


Immortal

by CMA6725



Category: Highlander: The Series, Zorro (TV 1990)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Duelling, Enemies to Friends, F/M, Family, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Identity Reveal, Parenthood, Politics, Reference to beheading, Reference to deaths of major characters, Romance, Sexual Content, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 38,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27117346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CMA6725/pseuds/CMA6725
Summary: In 1998 a 200-year-old Immortal who introduces himself as Felipe de la Vega tells Joe how Duncan had once met and saved the life of the man who was Zorro, alost two centuries earlier. The events of the time, as well as the three Immortals to have caused them, led to unanticipated changes in the lives of all Los Angelinos, including the unmasking of a Legend.  A story about the many ways in which a man's actions reverberate across centuries.Set in two timelines, the first part of the story covers the events leading to and following Zorro's unmasking as a result of the events set in motion by Duncan Macleod and an Immortal OC; the second part takes place in 1998, after the show's finale.If you are only fans of one of the shows, do not worry! I made sure to explain enough of the other so that you don't really need to have seen it before reading this.Enjoy and let me know if you did!
Relationships: Felipe (Zorro 1990)/Original Female Character(s), Joe Dawson & Duncan MacLeod, Victoria Escalante/Diego de la Vega
Kudos: 8





	1. An Immortal walks into a bar

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in the story and only write for fun.

Joe only had a couple of customers at that time. It was, however, rather early. The regulars would only come later.

He was worried and tending the bar, even if he didn't have to, was his way of keeping his mind busy and away from things that worried him. Like his friends and his own organization.

He had been a Watcher for decades, part of a secret organization established many centuries earlier with the purpose of monitoring the activities of the Immortals. Yet recent events had proven they were all more vulnerable than he had previously thought. Not just as individuals. The most concerning thing was that, as time had proven, the organization he had dedicated his life to was vulnerable. It had been infiltrated; its mission and knowledge corrupted and endangered; its most important treasures stolen. People he had called friends paid for all that, and good Immortals, some of those his predecessors and peers had once hoped would live to be the last, had lost their lives because their secret had been uncovered. At least Duncan was still alive, and so were Methos, and Amanda, and a few others of the good ones still left.

Joe took a sip of a new cocktail his normal bartender had just created and threw out the rest. No way he would serve that.

Returning his thoughts to the conundrums of his real profession he admitted to himself that he had been naive. Naïve to think that observing was possible without involvement, and that involvement was possible while keeping true to their mission. Nothing was that easy!

The door opened and some of the outside cold air followed a tall, brown-haired, good-looking young man inside. There was something familiar about him, yet Joe was rather certain he had never seen him before.

He eyed the stranger for a few moments, as the man took a seat at the bar and asked for a glass of red wine.

"Are you even 21?" Joe asked his caramel-eyed new client, who was politely grinning at him.

"22. I look 22." He answered instead. "But no. I am much older than that. However, I was 22 the first time I died."

The information was volunteered and Immortals never volunteer such information to strangers.

Joe's smile faded at his words and he stared at him slightly puzzled.

"You're an Immortal?" He dared ask, glad there were not many clients in the establishment.

"I am. A two hundred-year-old one. And you are a Watcher."

Joe eyed him suspiciously. He doubted there was such an old immortal who had, somehow, managed to escape notice, but he didn't have the power to sense if he was or not telling the truth. MacLeod would know as soon as he'd get there. Immortals were able to feel other Immortals when they were nearby. Did he just say I was a Watcher? Do all Immortals know about us now? He wondered.

"What is it you want here?" He wondered as he placed the requested drink in front of him, never losing sight of the young man.

"I understand Duncan MacLeod spends much of his time in this bar. I was hoping I might have a word with him. Unless you'd prefer to give me his address." The young-looking man answered.

"What makes you think I have it?" Joe replied.

"As I had already mentioned. I know who you are… You either have it or know someone who does. But I understand your reluctance. You have no idea who I am and what kind of person I am. So I will just wait here for him."

As he glanced at a TV Joe had placed in a corner of his bar, the advertisement on the screen captured his attention and he smiled almost involuntarily. "Anthony Hopkins? What a strange choice."

"I'm sorry?" Joe questioned as he, too, glanced at the screen to see the trailer for The Mask of Zorro,

"He's what? 5' 8"? 5' 9"? They had him playing Diego de la Vega. I find that funny because the real Diego de la Vega was about 6' 4". And Esperanza was the name of his mare, not that of his wife. He did name one of his daughters Elena, though."

"What are you talking about? Zorro is nothing more than a figment of someone's imagination. He wasn't real!" Joe informed him.

"Not real? He was the only father I can remember. Diego was real enough, I assure you."

"Your father?" Joe mocked, then remembered who it was the man claimed to be. Not a young man, but a rather old one. One he didn't know existed.

"Yes. He found and raised me, even adopted me as his own son. I used to be a deaf-mute back then, but he never even considered giving up on me, even if he was barely twelve years my elder."

"You really mean that? Or is this some kind of joke? What's that called - candy camera or something like that. Are we on it? I mean, Zorro... everybody knows…"

"What people know is what a friend of mine once wrote, after I had spent months telling him the real stories. He decided Zorro was too good of a character not to get his own novel. The real Diego, though, was much better and had a much nobler spirit than the one in his stories. He was also what people would call a 'Renaissance man'. My mentor and one of the greatest men I had ever met. He had the mind of a savant, the heart of an artist, and the skills of a perfect warrior. If I could have chosen, I would have rather he'd be the immortal one instead of me. But, then… he never could get himself to take another life… Perhaps he wouldn't have lasted too much in our world, come to think about it."

"So… you say Zorro actually existed?"

"Oh, yes. He had a Toledo-steel sword, a black stallion called Tornado, and sacrificed a decade of his life fighting for the people of Los Angeles. And I helped him do that, right from the day he first put on the mask. I was… twelve or thirteen at the time, if I remember correctly. Helping him remains my proudest achievement to this day, you know? My real name is Felipe, by the way. Diego called me that. God knows I don't remember anything before the day he found me, not even my first name."

"That is quite a story!" Joe remarked. "Felipe…"

"De la Vega. My name is Felipe de la Vega. I was born around 1801 in what was then New Spain. Mexico now. I became an Immortal in 1822."

Joe wondered how was it that, for two centuries, no Watcher reported on him, but did not ask his question out loud. There was something else he was more interested to know.

"May I ask… Why do you want to see Duncan MacLeod?"

"He's an old friend. I was just hoping for a chance to say hello, and pass him some information about a common enemy."

"I see. May I ask what the name of that common enemy is?"

"Jacob Kell." Felipe simply answered, and Joe's blood drained from his face. "I take it you know him?"

"Of him." Joe corrected.

"Right."

"How do you know about Watchers?"

"I was one." Felipe surprised him by stating. "I've known about you for longer than Duncan has. Perhaps for even longer than Methos. My father taught me to see beyond what people want me to see. He was also the one to find out about your existence." He explained as soon as he saw the surprise in the older-looking man's face. "So… Now that I've answered your questions, would you mind telling me if Duncan might pop by today? Perhaps call him to inform him I am here?"

"He said he'd be here at seven." A disconcerted Joe replied.

"Well… In that case, I'll come back then." Felipe told him. "Thank you for the drink." He continued, placing a twenty-dollar bill on the bar, turning towards exit.

"No! Wait!" Joe tried to stop him.

"Is there something wrong?"

"I… As you can see, it's pretty quiet here at this time of day. I was wondering if you might tell me some of the real Zorro stories you mentioned early... And, perhaps the one about how you and Duncan first met?"

The caramel-eyed man though about it for a few minutes and nodded with a smile, returning to the bar stool he had just abandoned.

"Actually… that is a Zorro story, to be honest…" He said as Joe poured him another glass of wine. "It all started in February 1822..."


	2. The newcomer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not a summary - just an info: Trying to stay true to the spirit of both shows and, in this part of the story, mainly to the 1990 Zorro (or New World Zorro as it's widely known), several expressions and words used will be in Spanish, but their English translation will be mentioned at the end of each chapter, in the order they appear.
> 
> No Duncan MacLeod yet, but be patient! He'll get there!

February 1822, Los Angeles

The forty-year-old pueblo* was still ruled by the Spanish at the time, despite Mexico having won its independence the previous year. Things moved slow back then and, despite the fact that news of Mexico's treaty with Spain had reached even that secluded northern territory, there was no news about any change in California's own status. The Spanish Governor was still in place, and so were the Spanish Alcaldes* ruling the pueblos.

Ignacio de Soto, a very ambitious officer of the Royal Army had been in charge of Los Angeles for over three years at that point, ever since his predecessor accidentally died at Devil's Fortress (a death not everyone considered to have been an accident). He was only 38, yet already white-haired and white-bearded. His one dream was to return in glory to his beloved Madrid.

While not as cruel as his predecessor, but rather misguided, he believed the one way to achieve his dream was by catching and hanging the one man who was always there to defy him: the masked outlaw called Zorro. Unbeknownst to him, the same outlaw was, in fact, his former university colleague, Diego de la Vega, a man three years younger than him, and which Ignacio, just like many others in the pueblo, believed to be "useless". In fact, thanks to the role of a studious caballero he had been playing since his return from Spain, where he had attended university, and despite the obvious physical traits he shared with Zorro, Diego was never even considered as a potential candidate to be the outlaw.

In fact, the true identity of the Alcalde's nemesis, was only known to a young man called Felipe; an orphan Diego had found on a battlefield when he was about six, and had brought home to take care of, despite the child being a deaf-mute. His condition, though, just like Diego had initially suspected, was determined by the trauma he had suffered, and the boy regained his hearing when he was twelve. He grew up to be a rather charming young man, good-looking, brave, and quite popular with the opposite sex, despite still pretending to be deaf in order to help his mentor and recently-adoptive father in his fight for justice.

After having done his best to capture and hang the outlaw for the better part of his time as Alcalde of Los Angeles, De Soto had, truth be told, decreased his efforts to lay out traps for the masked man. That particular change had come about a few months earlier, after his nemesis had saved him from execution at the hands of King's Emissary Gilberto Risendo. The same man, later proved to be, in fact, Gilberto de la Vega, Diego's long-lost twin brother, abducted at birth by the woman who had raised him and turned him against his own family. At that time, De Soto had been the one to save Diego's life, when Gilberto had tried to kill him, ending the Emissary's life instead, and, ironically, saving the man he had, for so long, sought to kill.

The Alcalde had reconsidered some of his life-choices after that episode, but not in such a dramatic way as to make a 180 degree turn of his life. He did, however, started being fairer in his dealing with the pueblo's citizens, stopped arresting the owner of the only tavern/inn in town - the lovely senorita* Victoria Escalante, who was Diego's best friend and Zorro's not-at-all-secret love interest - and started listening, from time to time, to Diego when the caballero* was trying to reason with him in an effort to prevent him from committing some error in judgement that might require Zorro's intervention.

That was how, by February of 1822, while he was still a wanted outlaw with a 6000 pesos reward on his head, Zorro was making fewer and fewer appearances, and Diego was more and more determined to let the masked legend fade away. Whether by further change in De Soto's attitude or by a change of leadership brought about by the Mexican independence, he was certain change was coming and he needed to seize his opportunity or ride as Zorro for the remainder of his life.

Having already decided that his was too dangerous a secret for anyone to know, he had started putting his plan into motion by releasing the beautiful taverness from her promise to marry Zorro. That had happened about three weeks earlier, in January.

After the rather public split, Zorro had visited her to take back the engagement ring he had once given her, in a moment of serious misjudgment on his part, and which, should anyone see, would have led straight to him, since it had been his mother's. That evening when he last visited her, he also made sure to tell Victoria that he would never stop loving her, but considering he had made many enemies and all he loved would be in danger even if he received a pardon, she needed to give up on him and find herself a good husband.

He did not explain more of his plan because he intended to soon start courting and marry her as himself, without ever having to tell, her or anyone else, that he had spent almost a decade leading a double life, one as an un-involved and studious caballero, and one as a legendary outlaw, always there to protect the innocent and bring the guilty ones to justice.

At least, that was the plan.

ZHZHZHZHZ

It was mid-February when Diego's carefully-considered plan started to unravel, pushing him into acts of damage-control, with completely unexpected consequences.

The day it all started was when the stagecoach from Monterey had brought to the pueblo a beautiful, dark-haired, green-eyed woman. She looked to be in her early twenties, was tall and slim, and wore her long curly hair loose on her back. The elegant green dress she had on was in direct contrast with the rather humble clothing of the people of Los Angeles, and it made sure she stood out from the crowd.

At about the same time, a monk arrived to the pueblo, mounted on a horse, and asked the only priest there, Padre Benitez, for accommodation. The kind man offered it, open-heartedly.

The Alcalde was not the first one to notice the beautiful woman, but her appearance silenced him in the middle of the disciplinary speech he was giving his right-hand-man, Sergeant Mendoza, and two of his Royal lancers.

"Sergeant!" He ordered, after a few moments of silence he used in order to stare at the woman, pointing towards the newly arrived. "Find out who that is, and let me know. At once!"

Mendoza nodded and headed for the lady, whose luggage had already been taken down from the stage and left in front of the tavern. She looked at the two big trunks and sighed, innocently wondering out loud "How am I going to carry these two to my room?" Five lancers having their lunch at a nearby table instantly offered to help her, and she accepted with the kind of smile that made them feel as if they were doing nothing more than their duty.

"Buenos dias!"* She greeted with a slight accent which Victoria couldn't recognize. "Do you have any rooms available, Senorita?"

"Buenos dias!" The taverness greeted in return. "I can offer you my best room, that one in the middle," she answered, pointing towards the second floor of her establishment. "But I'm afraid it is probably not what you're accustomed to."

"I have some experience in dealing with more… primitive sleeping conditions." The new arrival replied with a smile, unaware or simply not caring about insulting Victoria. "I'll take it, Senorita…?"

"Escalante. I am Victoria Escalante, and this is my tavern, Senora. The price for the room is 5 pesos per night, and it includes breakfast. Do you know how long will you be staying?"

"I'm not sure, yet. As long as it takes." The woman answered. "I am Senora Mya del Rioblanco*. Please to meet you, Senorita Escalante!"

"Es un placer!* May I ask if Senor Del Rioblanco will also be joining you during your stay here?" Victoria wondered.

"There is no Senor Del Rioblanco." She answered, and Victoria looked puzzled. "I'm a widow." She clarified.

"Senora!" Mendoza interrupted them. "I am Sergeant Jaime Mendoza. Permit me to welcome you to out pueblo… and to collect the traveler's tax."

"A traveler's tax? What nonsense is that?" Mya replied with a chuckle.

"Well… It's a standard tax. Everybody who comes here must pay it." The good man informed her, finding the woman quite intimidating.

"And if I refuse to pay it?" She asked, just as Diego de la Vega, his father, Don* Alejandro, and adopted son, Felipe were entering the tavern.

"If you refuse to pay, the Alcalde will be upset, and he might ask you to spend the night in jail." Mendoza replied.

"He'll have to fight me first. And I doubt he wants that!" She answered, still finding the situation amusing, then turned to take the key Victoria had offered her and, signaling for the lancers to follow her, headed for the room she had just rented.

"But… But, Senora!" Was all Mendoza managed to utter as she was climbing up the stairs, and was completely ignored.

The De la Vegas smiled at the scene, and took seats at one of the tables, ordering lunch and a pitcher of orange juice. While all three men found the woman interesting, only Felipe found her utterly fascinating. He had never before seen a woman acting like that, not even Victoria.

"Anything wrong, my dear?" Don Alejandro asked the taverness, when she came to sit at their table, just as the lunch crowd started gossiping about the new arrival.

"I don't know, Don Alejandro," she answered pensively, as her leg accidentally touched Diego's under the table. "It's just that… she looks so sophisticated… But, while we were talking, I had noticed a big scar on the edge of her neck. It was mostly covered by her hair, but it looked deep… how would such a woman get that scar?"

"Many ways, I'm sure!" Diego answered. "She might have been in an accident when she was younger, or someone might have tried to harm her…"

"And that decision to challenge the Alcalde? She looked so certain of herself! What's your explanation for that?" She asked.

"She's probably unused to men saying 'no' to her." Diego explained. "A beautiful woman like that must have a lot of men wrapped around her small finger."

"Diego!" Victoria exclaimed, rather upset with his reasoning, despite her knowing it was, most probably, quite true. The woman was beautiful, and her entire being emanated self-confidence. In fact, the only other person she had ever seen to be so certain of himself was Zorro. "Don't tell me you're taken by her!" She proceeded in warning the man she thought to be her best friend but which, annoyingly enough, seemed to stir up her jealousy every time she believed him even remotely interested in another woman.

Truth be told, against her own will, Victoria already despised the new arrival, if for no other reason, just because Diego de la Vega seemed smitten by her. Having been in a bad mood since Zorro abandoned their dream of one day building a life together, and finding Diego to be her only consolation in her trying times, Victoria was not in the mood for new challenges to the status quo.

The De la Vega meals had barely arrived when Victoria returned to serving the tables, minutes before the strange woman came to the taproom for her lunch. She took a seat at an empty table and placed her order, then started to read a book she had with her.

While she was waiting, Diego saw the opportunity to both introduce himself, and warn her against De Soto. He stood up from his table and slowly strolled to the young Senora's.

"Strabo's Geography. An impressive read!" He uttered with a smile, genuinely interested in the book she was reading, which he found to be an intriguing choice for a lady such as her. "I am Diego de la Vega! " He then introduced himself.

Her eyes studied him from head to toe, then, with a hand gesture, she invited him to take a seat. "Senora Mya del Rioblanco. Please to meet you!" She offered his hand to kiss.

"Likewise!" He answered casually, shaking her hand. "So… How do you find the book?"

"Quite amusing, actually!" She answered, certain that the handsome, tall caballero was interested in her. "Full of historical and geographical inaccuracies… as most books of the time are. Which just makes them an entertaining read. Although… This one I must have already read a few times… although, not recently."

"I see. Amusing." He noted even more intrigued with the stranger before him. "I've never heard that said about Strabo's work."

De Soto and two of his lancers, including Mendoza, chose that moment to head for her, frowning at seeing Diego seated at her table, falsely believing that the caballero was, most probably, enchanted with the woman. The Alcalde certainly was, and he believed himself a much better man than Diego. Determined to indebt her by wavering the travelers' tax, thus assuring her favor, he ignored his former schoolmate and introduced himself.

"Senora, permit me to introduce myself. I am Ignacio de Soto, Alcalde of Los Angeles. First, let me personally welcome you to our charming pueblo. It is a rare honor to be blessed with such beautiful presence in this remote part of the word!"

"Thank you, Alcalde. I am Mya del Rioblanco." She replied, looking curiously at the official. "Is that the only reason you've interrupted my conversation with Senor De la Vega? To welcome me here?"

De Soto hesitated for a moment, then continued.

"Well… My Sergeant informed me that you are not in a position to pay the travelers' tax. I have to inform you, Senora, that it's a standard fee everyone staying in Los Angeles must pay. Now, of course I might be convinced to waive it, if you are not able to do so at this moment but…"

"So you took one good look at me, and concluded I'm unable to pay your miserable tax?" Mya answered defiantly, silencing the white-haired man before her, as well as the rest of the tavern. She never like men to treat her as if she was a decorative object, nor did she take kindly to insults, intended or not. "Are you trying to offend me or just unable to help yourself from doing so?"

"Senora, I assure you…"

"No, Senor! I assure you that you are sorely mistaken about me. If you were smart, which I assume you aren't, since that masked bandit of yours managed to escape capture for so long, you would stay as far away from me as you can."

Except Zorro, De Soto had never encountered any other person, so determined to defy him as Mya was, and he couldn't stand it, not even from such a beautiful woman. "I believe it is you who has no idea who you're dealing with, Senora!" He warned her in the same tone of voice he normally employed in his dealings with Zorro, when he believed to have the upper hand, right before the masked man found a new way to humiliate him. "Perhaps I should help you find out!" The Alcalde continued, signaling to his men to arrest her.

The Sergeant and his lancer reluctantly obeyed and headed for the Senora, determined to escort her to the jail, just as Diego tried to come to her defense. "Now, Ignacio, I doubt you need to do this. Look," he continued, reaching into his trousers to get the five pesos travelers' tax to hand him, yet never got to offer the payment.

With unexpected agility, Mya stood up, twisting the lancer's hand, the pain bringing him to his knees, before her. At the same time, a leg flew from under her dress to impact with Mendoza's chest. The Sergeant lost his balance and fell on the Alcalde, both tumbling on the taproom's floor. De Soto pushed Mendoza away from him, and rapidly recovered, taking out his gun and pointing it towards Mya.

She chuckled, let go of the lancer's hand, and crossed her arms defiantly looking at him. "A gun. Is that the measure of your bravery?" She asked, as Diego was considering stepping in front of her to deter Ignacio from pressing the trigger, and try to calm him down. "That gun won't help you!" Mya continued before he made up his mind "But I am willing to give you a chance. How about a duel with swords instead? You win, I pay the tax and obey you in everything for… two weeks. I'll be your personal servant, if you should so will it. If I win, on the other hand, you pay the tax out of your own pocket, pay for my accommodation and all my meals, and stay at least thirty feet away from me, for as long as I am here. What do you say? You do know how to use a sword, don't you?" She questioned with a smug look on her face.

For a few moments, the Alcalde considered if it was wise to accept her challenge. She had defied him, an action which could not be tolerated. She also tempted him with her offer. A beautiful woman, his to command… now, that was the dream! As a member of the weaker sex, even if she had had training with a sword, he highly doubted that she stood a chance against him. "If you want to be injured and humiliated, Senora!" He retorted and indicated towards the plaza, putting away his gun.

"Ignacio, she's a woman. You can't possibly…" Diego again tried to change his mind, realizing his black clothes and stallion were nowhere near Los Angeles, so it was risky for him to intervene in her defense.

"Stay out of it, Diego! And don't worry, I am a gentleman. I won't hurt a woman… too bad, that is!" Ignacio replied as everyone headed outside to witness the unexpected spectacle. Mya borrowed a sword from a bystander, and, after assuring Diego that she didn't need a man to protect her, she took position before De Soto.

The official saluted and lunged, not expecting too much of a response. Instead, he was met with a powerful parry and a sudden combined attack, which pushed him into a clumsy defense, and made him lose his sword in but a few seconds after the start of the duel. Mesmerized, just like all their spectators, he watched her with wide-opened eyes, as he found himself at the wrong end of Mya's borrowed sword.

"If she wasn't a woman I'd say I am looking at the unmasked Zorro!" Don Alejandro whispered to his son, who smiled back, but his face became grim seconds later.

Mya looked at De Soto with superiority, and a wicked smile brightened her face at seeing him squirm. "I believe we had a deal, Senor. You'd be wise to honor it! And, Alclade," she added as he relaxed at her decision to withdraw her sword from his chest "remember: from now on, you will stay away from me. I shall only see you again once more, the day I collect the reward for the outlaw Zorro, and be out of this pueblo for good."

ZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZ

* Pueblo – En. Village (however, as in the Tv Show/ Zorro 1990 works of Fan Fiction, it can be substituted with the English word Town).

* Alcalde – En. Mayor (The 1990 Zorro TV Show uses the term for the leaders – civil servants and, at the same time, military commanders – of the Californian pueblos, appointed by the Spanish King, and which, in the case of Los Angeles, turn to be all-powerful tyrans, thus providing Zorro with a fitting main enemy. History is another matter entirely :P)

*Senorita/Senora/Senor – En. Miss/Mrs./Mr.

*Caballero – En. literally, it means Knight, but, in this context, it's just a way of describing people belonging to what was the local aristocracy of the time in the Spanish colonies.

*Buenos Dias! – En A good day!/ Hello!

*Del Rioblanco – My OC's name is a pun as it's composed by the words Rio and Blanco, i.e River and White. Del Rioblanco would thus translate as "of the White River" (as in one of the two rivers uniting to form the Amazon).

* Es un placer! - En. in this context, Pleased to meet you!

* Don – En. Mr. (at the time it was the title given to land-owners and to men belonging to the local aristocracy).


	3. Under the wrong assumptions

Victoria Escalante disliked her new tenant. The woman was too beautiful, too fearless, too full of herself, too infatuated with Diego, and too intended on capturing, perhaps even killing the man she still loved. What was there not for her to dislike?

Since the day she had arrived, and so utterly humiliated the Alcalde, Mya had became the pueblo's main attraction. Women disguised their envy of her behind the veil of malicious gossip; men concomitantly feared, admired, and desired her; while the renowned bachelor Diego de la Vega apparently couldn't stay away from her.

Neither could his son, Felipe, stay away. In fact, the young man had taken to spending most of his time in the tavern just watching her, the same way his father always watched Victoria. When he was trying to be inconspicuous, he contented himself with looking out the window or to other people in the taproom, all-the-while listening to her sweet voice as she was talking to Diego.

From the first moment he had laid eyes on her, the youngest De la Vega knew that the woman was special. He knew that she was somehow connected to him, for reasons which he could not understand. However, Felipe kept that knowledge only for himself, not even sharing it with the man who had raised him, but hoping, nevertheless, that he might one day be in the right position to do so. In the meantime, he was increasingly more preoccupied about Senora del Rioblanco's interest in Diego.

The green-eyed woman was, indeed, finding the tall caballero rather charming, soon enough craving his company.

Considering he was one of the very few people in the pueblo who didn't seem to either fear or be, in any way, intimidated by her – a trait she found very attractive in men - and in the absence of fresh tracks she could use to follow and capture Zorro, Mya spent much of her time with the De la Vega heir. At first, she had agreed to his company mostly out of boredom, but, soon enough, she found herself truly drawn to him.

He was chivalrous, had a bright mind, a constantly cheerful mood, and was not like most men she had known thus far. He was a rare breed of men who regarded women as equal, rather than as inferior. That was still a flaw in her eyes - since she had known, her entire life, that women were far superior to the other gender - but it was one she had long since learned to ignore.

While deeply emerged in her talks with the tall caballero, though, Mya also took note of the young man he called a son, but was nothing of the sort. She knew quite well, since the first time she had laid eyes on him, that he was no one's son, just as she was no one's daughter. Initially, she hadn't given him much consideration. He was polite and had had the luck to be adopted by a good, intelligent, and very wealthy man. With some more luck, she thought, Felipe would die of old age after having lived a beautiful and fulfilled life.

As for Diego, despite what both Mya and Victoria thought, he had other than romantic interests in the new arrival. On one hand, he found her stories fascinating, and her knowledge of history quite incredible, so he appreciated the opportunity to learn. On the other hand, however, what he really hoped was to dissuade her from trying to capture his masked self.

The caballero didn't want to fight her, not because he feared she'd out skill him. Although, after her demonstration with De Soto, he honestly admitted to himself and Felipe that she just might. What truly concerned him, however, was that he knew that he'd be at a disadvantage if forced to fight a woman. As a true caballero, he wouldn't be able to use any of his tricks, nor could he hit or punch her, as he usually ended his fights with the Alcalde. He might even be unable to injure Mya, as he wanted to avoid doing that almost as much as he wanted to avoid killing her or allowing her to take his own life.

All he could do under such circumstances was to avoid riding as Zorro, if at all possible, and hope his intended captor might either get bored of waiting, or simply change her mind after hearing enough stories confirming Zorro was not an ordinary bandit, but a defender of the people.

With no thugs to catch for the following week and no unjust action by the Alcalde, not donning the mask proved much easier to do than he had expected.

Ironically, however, everyone was simply acting under the wrong assumptions.

Alcalde De Soto, who wanted Zorro apprehended, having vowed to see him hang, despised Senora Del Rioblanco even more than he despised the outlaw. That was mainly because, while the former had humiliated him without him having given her a real motive (or that was how he interpreted the situation, at least), the latter had only ever humiliated him with good reason (De Soto had started admitting that that to himself after the Risendo episode), and had even saved his life a few times. Thus, faced with a choice between the perspective of having Mya catch his nemesis (an idea he did find somewhat amusing, until realizing the position in which he'd be if the woman would actually succeed where he had failed), and keep Zorro away from her, he chose the second option. That was how, for over a week he was on his best behavior, unwilling to do anything that might elicit the masked outlaw's intervention while she was in town.

It was his way to defy the woman, but he was, at the same time, also prolonging her stay, despite wanting her gone.

Mya truly believed Zorro to be a common criminal, and had long since closed her mind to any other perspective on the man. She had believed the Governor, who had recounted for her how the masked menace was responsible for the former Alcalde's death, a false account, he, too, had been given by his predecessor. Impressed with her skills, the high-level official had even allowed her to read the reports received from Los Angeles. Mya, thus, knew that the masked outlaw was attacking the lancers; preventing acts of justice; had helped prisoners escape from jail, and even condemned men escape from the gallows. Under these circumstances, and considering Mendoza's accounts always included enough of his own imagined version of how things went to make her doubt anything he said was true, Zorro's capture remained her prime objective while in Los Angeles.

Had she known the true identity of the man she was after, nevertheless, she would have changed her mind in an instant. That was because, while waiting for the opportunity to catch the masked legend, she was also growing more and more infatuated with Diego. Not only that, but she had a deeply-rooted suspicion that he was one of the best and most honorable men she had ever met.

Under the given circumstances, however, while still bend on ending Zorro's career, she had, nonetheless, started to hope he would delay his appearance long enough to give her the opportunity to seduce the tall caballero and make him her lover.

In his turn, Diego was employing the wrong tools to dissuade her from her declared mission, at the same time unwillingly giving the woman a reason to remain in the pueblo, rather than to leave. That was because, in his hope to make her see things his way, by attempting to familiarize Mya with the pueblo and its problems, he was providing her with the needed entertainment to keep the beautiful from getting bored.

Furthermore, the attention he was paying to the new arrival, by meeting her almost daily for meals and long talks, as well as by inviting her to the hacienda for soirees and dinners – to which Victoria was also always invited to attend - was stirring the taverness' jealousy. As a consequence, the frustration was causing her to behave more and more recklessly.

Flirting with vaqueros* was a bad idea, and Victoria had never done that before. It was against her very good instincts and better judgment to fraternize with any of her customers. Yet, she was willing to ignore all that, in the unacknowledged hope that it would give Diego a reason to pay more attention to her.

However, she had also picked the worst moment to do so because, just as she headed for the men's table, her back at the one for whom the demonstration was intended, Don Alejandro signaled his son from the terrace, and he went outside to talk to his father. By the time he returned, Mya, who had seen that one of the men was trying to force Victoria to sit in his lap, had already come to her rescue. So, when Diego re-entered the tavern with his father, the three rough men clumsily bumped into them as they were exiting, Senora Del Rioblanco was standing triumphant in the middle of the taproom, and Victoria looked both mortified and somewhat angry at her rescuer.

Supersaturating some of her food with chili, to punish the caballero for what she perceived as negligent behavior, was Victoria's second bad idea. Diego had come to the tavern but didn't stay long enough to eat that day. Others, however, did, and, before Victoria was able to prevent it, her helpers served to the other customers the food she had made especially for her friend, causing her to lose their patronage. At least, for a while, since she was running the only tavern in Los Angeles.

"So, Diego," Mya asked one evening, while Mendoza was, at his invitation, recounting some of Zorro's adventures, and she was, as usual, ignoring the story, her mind busy with imagining the tall caballero shirtless "do you have any plans for tomorrow?"

"Ah…" he hesitated for a moment as the Sergeant stopped mid-sentence, "I do need to finish some articles for the next edition of The Guardian," he answered, certain that his commitment to the town's (only) newspaper, as its editor, was both a good excuse to avoid any suggested activity he might dislike, and a light-enough work for him to say he could finish quickly, should he decide to agree with whatever activity she had in mind. He did feel uncomfortable with the way she was staring at him, though, and was fairly certain that she was much harder to fool than the people of his pueblo.

Felipe, who, as usual, was accompanying Diego, just stared at her, somewhat upset with the way she was looking at his father. Did she not know he was already taken? Did women not sense such things, even if men didn't make them public?

"That sounds quite boring!" Mya replied. "I'm sure your son can do a good job at that, as well, since I expect you to accompany me to visit the village of Povuu'nga. I've always been fascinated with the Indian tribes, but I doubt they would welcome a stranger, such as I, and you did tell me you are on good terms with them. But, don't worry! I know you are not a morning person, so come I shall meet you here at 10… and be so kind as to lend me one of your horses."

With that request, which sounded an awful lot like an order, she got up, uttered "Gentlemen," instead of 'Goodnight', and headed for her room, leaving her companions dumbfounded.

Felipe was convinced that, had Victoria been present for that conversation, she would have probably either thrown Mya out of her tavern or try to kill her in her sleep. He wasn't certain, and it was lucky that she only found out about it after the tall caballero and her new rival for his affections had already left.

That evening Diego spent a lot of his time in the cave, just thinking. His son tried to find out what was wrong with him. He explained what he understood, since, for all his skill with weapons and the brilliant mind on his head, women were as much of a mystery to him as they were to any other man of his time and age. Blind to the true purpose of the ride on which Mya was forcing him to accompany her – alone, one should add - the tall caballero had begun to suspect that she had somehow guessed his secret identity, and had simply decided to confront him in a secluded place.

The younger man partly hoped he was right and did not share his suspicions about the beautiful woman's true purposes. After all, up to that point, she hadn't said or done anything that might have been considered as an indecent suggestion or proposal.

So, after a fencing session with Felipe who, having spent over nine years of his life training under his adoptive father's guidance, had become quite proficient with the sword, Diego packed his second-best saber to take with him the following morning.

As for the younger man, despite his own feelings, knowing about his father's principles and reluctance to cause harm to any member of the opposite sex, he decided to follow them from afar. Considering he had perfect aim with the musket, he was also cautious enough to take a couple with him, knowing they were to come in handy in scaring her off, should the Senora make an attempt against Diego.

She did.


	4. The drunk taverness

The weather was already too hot, and the taverness was more than a little annoyed that morning. She was in a terrible mood.

That viper who wanted to capture Zorro had been trying to get her clutches into her best friend, and, that day, she might succeed. The ride she asked Diego to take her on was, obviously, from Victoria's perspective, nothing more than a trap to get him alone and seduce him. Poor, innocent, gallant Diego would stand no chance against her.

She resolved to kick the woman out as soon as she'd return, then changed her mind at considering that the chivalrous De la Vegas might offer her a guest room instead, which would have been even worse than Senora Del Rioblanco's continuing stay at her tavern.

Despite being younger than Victoria - or, at least, so the taverness believed - Mya was, undoubtedly, far more experienced than every other women she knew, and completely capable to turn men into faithful puppies! He was probably already lost to that woman's charms! Victoria's mind screamed as she berated herself for not having warned the caballero in time.

I should have ridden out with them to make sure he was… safe. Her silent banter continued, even though she was, at that point, still unable to understand why exactly she was so upset with the situation. She had had a lot of clients that morning and had barely even noticed Diego arriving and coming in to greet her. A few minutes later, when she returned to him to ask what he wanted, he was gone. Victoria only found out where he had gone to and with whom when Don Alejandro told her, half an hour after their departure, and had been worrying about him ever since. The old don's lack of preoccupation with his son's decision to accompany Mya was also irritating her. After all, Don Alejandro was by no means secretive about his hope to soon see his only son married, and he seemed to like the young widow.

What was he thinking, anyway? Victoria questioned Diego's reasoning, deciding that, if he returned from that ride with a fiancée, she'd make sure he'd take his proposal back, even if she'd have to use her pan to get him to do so!

It was just 11:30 in the morning, but she needed something to calm her nerves.

Victoria poured herself a glass of wine. It was too early for wine, but she hoped it would, at least, make her numb enough to feel better. While she usually only drank at soirees and at dinners with friends, she had, in time developed quite a resistance to alcohol due to her frequent trips to her suppliers. Getting drunk was, thus, not among her main concerns at that point. After all, circumstances had forced her to manage the tavern alone since she was fourteen, and one of the first things she had learned was that she needed to make sure she was only given the best, or many of her patrons would cease said patronage. When the first glass had hardly any effect on her, she poured herself another, then placed the bottle on the kitchen table, just in time to go greet her new guest.

He was a rough-looking man but in a charming way. Rather clean – something most men weren't, she remarked just for herself – had long, black hair, a mustache, an overgrown beard, and a goatee. Dressed as a trapper, he was carrying around his saddlebags, a rifle and a long object, safely packed in a deerskin.

The new arrival didn't seem threatening but left her with the impression of a man who could certainly take care of himself. And of his woman. An inner voice silently added as she was deciding whether or not she should flirt with him. A positive response from a handsome man might make her feel better, she considered. On second thought, Victoria decided she was not in the mood for flirting.

He was a bit shorter than Zorro, a detail she always noticed in newcomers, but she liked black-haired men, and she usually preferred them with a mustache. Not that there were any men to speak of in her life. Zorro had left and Diego had fallen prey to that… woman. Her mind pointed out.

The stranger tried to smile at her - it didn't come out as genuine as he hoped - and approached the bar.

ZHZHZHZHZ

"Wait!" Joe interrupted Felipe's story. "If I get this right, this… stranger… He was Duncan, wasn't he?" Felipe nodded so Joe continued. "MacLeod was wearing a mustache and a goatee the first time you'd met him?"

"He was. He was wearing mutton chops the second time we've met, some decades later. He even wore a soul patch in the '50s. You should have seen him!"

"I would have liked to!" Joe replied. "You know, whenever he told me one of his stories, he left out the details about how he used to look one decade or another."

"I would too, if I would have had some of his bad inspiration when it comes to facial hair. Anyway… where was I? Oh, yes. His first encounter with Victoria."

ZHZHZHZHZ

"Senorita," he asked in a good Spanish spoken with a strange accent, different from Mya's, yet just as unidentifiable to the taverness "is this also an inn? I'd like a room for the night."

"Si, Senor," Victoria replied, doing her best effort to smile. "But, unfortunately, the only room I have left is the one in the back. It's rather small, but the price is, as well. Only two pesos."

"I'm sure it will be better than sleeping out in the open!" He replied, looking around the place with curiosity. "I'll take it. My name is Duncan MacLeod."

The taverness wondered what kind of a name was that. It wasn't Spanish, of that she was sure. "Are you an American, Senor Mclad?"

"MacLeod," he corrected her.

"MacLod."

"Mac-Leod"

"Mac-Laud"

"You know what? Duncan will be fine." He decided to give up. It was not the first time people had difficulties in pronouncing his name since he had crossed the border into Alta California.

"Very well senor!" Victoria agreed, a little irritated. "I am Victoria Escalante. Welcome to my tavern, Senor Duncan!"

"Your tavern?" He asked with some amusement. "You're the owner?"

"I am!" She decided to feel insulted by what she perceived as a dismissive tone, rather than the astonished one it was meant to be, and that only worsened her mood. She already disliked the man. "I will have one of my employees prepare the room for you, and I will let you know when it's ready."

"That would be fine, thank you. In the meantime, do you, by any chance have any whisky?"

"Whisky? I… I believe I do. But I only have one bottle, and it is rather expensive."

"I haven't touched alcohol in a month, ever since I put foot in California. I'm tired and, right now, I want nothing better than some whisky. How much can it be?" Duncan asked, already searching his saddlebags for money, a bit frustrated to have so many dollars, yet so few Spanish pesos.

"The bottle is twenty pesos, and by bottle is the only way I am selling it." Victoria answered him, putting a sudden end to his search.

"Twenty pesos for a bottle of whisky? That's not a price, that's robbery!" He protested.

"I did warn you it was expensive. It is only brought by English ships, and this is a Spanish territory. It's not easy to come by out here." She informed him.

"I'll say!" He replied, sitting, disappointed, at a table, and taking out an old newspaper to read.

"Victoria," Don Alejandro, who had been sitting at one of the back tables, having heard their conversation, came to talk to her, "the man looks as if he had a long journey, and, since I was going to buy it anyway, how about you sell me that bottle of yours, and pour him a glass? I'll take the rest of it later, when I return to the hacienda."

Victoria nodded and, as usual, did as the old don asked. A couple of minutes later, Duncan was getting his glass of whisky and was informed that his room was ready.

"I thought you only sold it by the bottle." He remarked when Victoria brought it to him.

"I do. Don Alejandro, one of the local caballeros, bought the bottle and asked me to offer you a glass." She replied, indicating the person she was referring to and who was, at the moment, engaged in a discussion with two of his friends.

"Tell him I appreciate it, but I am no charity case!" Duncan informed her, rejecting, although reluctantly, the offered glass.

When she did so, Don Alejandro came to his table to apologize for the unintended insult, insisting that it was his pleasure to offer him the drink as a sign of hospitality.

Duncan seized him up, decided the man was being sincere, then apologized for having reacted in such a way to his generosity, and invited him to take a seat next to him. The old don accepted, then signaled Victoria to bring back the glass and also pour some whisky for him, as well.

"Where are you from, Senor Duncan?" The caballero asked after introductions were made.

"Scotland, originally." His interlocutor replied.

"I see…" Don Alejandro uttered, pensively.

"Does my origin offend you?" Duncan asked, suddenly feeling insulted. He later attributed his foul mood to tiredness.

"By no means!" The old don replied. "It's just that our Alcalde tends to be a little… how to say… paranoid about strangers. I'm afraid it might take him little time and absolutely no proof to decide you are a spy sent by the British."

"That's nonsense! I am Scottish!" Duncan retorted as he felt no added explanation was needed.

"I'm just warning you, Senor! Not long ago, my son and I found an Oriental… a fisherman from Osaka. He was shipwrecked on our shore, and barely even spoke our language. The moment the Alcalde laid eyes on him, he simply decided he was a spy and arrested him on the spot, forcing him to run behind his stallion all the way from my hacienda to the pueblo. Or, at least, he would have forced him to do so, had Zorro not intervened."

"Zorro? That masked outlaw on the posters all over this territory?"

"Masked hero." Victoria corrected him from behind the bar, where she was re-arranging some bottles while eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Indeed. Zorro is considered a hero of the people here, in Los Angeles. He saved my life more than once. You should see him in action, Senor! The lancers don't stand a chance against him. Sometimes, I swear the man has some power to deflect bullets… or is bulletproof. And his skill with the sword… there are not many as gifted as him, I tell you!" Don Alejandro supported Victoria's intervention.

"Bulletproof… And skilled with the sword?" Duncan extracted the information he found relevant, instantly wondering if the man was not one of his own kind. That would make for an easy unmasking. At least to him.

By that point, Duncan MacLeod, of the clan MacLeod had been alive for over two centuries. He had met, in all that time, all sorts of Immortals. From the noblest ones, such as his teacher and fellow clan man, Connor MacLeod, to the cold-blooded murderer John Durgan. His own past was not exactly lacking in deeds he now regretted, and would gladly take back, if that was, at all, possible. He, thus, knew that, just like in the case of ordinary men, anything was to be expected from the Immortals.

"And how many people has this hero of yours killed so far?" He continued to ask, this time in a mocking tone.

"Zorro doesn't kill, Senor! It is against his principles!" Don Alejandro replied. "Ever since he appeared, almost a decade ago, the man has done nothing but help people! And he has done so without asking for anything in return. All his actions have only served the cause of justice, and he has constantly risked his life to serve that cause!" He continued, pride in his voice.

The old don was, indeed, proud of their hero, even though he had no idea it was his son under the black mask, a son which, ironically, he had even called a coward at one point, about a year and a half earlier.

He was usually avoiding discussing their hero, however. Firstly because, since the masked outlaw had publicly declared his decision to stop courting the taverness – if one could call flatteries and hand kisses, offered in the short moments he wasn't ducking bullets, 'courtship' – he wanted to avoid upsetting her by mentioning him. Secondly, he did so because, for the last few weeks, Don Alejandro had seen his son and the taverness he loved like his own daughter grow closer than ever before. He was, thus, starting to hope that one day he might see them married to each other and mentioning Zorro, he knew, only pushed that day further and further away.

"An outlaw who doesn't kill and risks his life to help people. That's something I haven't seen before!" Duncan retorted with some amusement, having already decided in his mind that he was dealing with an Immortal. One who didn't kill was hard to come across. But then he considered, there are several I know who don't kill mortals… Now he was simply wondering if he should stay and meet him, or just take his horse and leave as soon as he had gotten some rest. He was not in the mood for a fight, should the masked man challenge him.

"Stick around and you just might. But don't get your hopes too high! The man is quite unpredictable!" Don Alejandro concluded their discussion and, after emptying his glass, he offered Duncan another, and said his goodbyes, heading for the church to discuss with the padre*.

"Senorita!" Duncan called Victoria. "Would you mind telling me what is there for lunch at your tavern?"

"Not at all!" She answered as she brought over the bottle to pour Duncan another drink. "We have albondigas soup, carne assada, arroz con pollo and enchiladas.*"

"And what would you recommend?" He asked, doing his best effort to seem charming. The taverness was beautiful, and, while he was not very inclined to get another heartbreak at that point, he was missing some romance in his life.

"The enchiladas! They are very good!" She answered with an innocent smile.

"Enchiladas, then." The Highlander agreed. Victoria nodded and headed for the kitchen, a mischievous smile on her lips. A couple of minutes later, she returned with the plate and placed it right in front of him, together with a loaf of fresh bread. It all smelled wonderful, and Duncan was pretty hungry. After cautioning him that the meal was "very hot", she wished him "Buen provecho!*", and went about serving other customers, keeping, however, an eye fixed on him.

Duncan took a large bite and instantly felt as if his mouth was on fire. He took his glass and drank, thinking a liquid would help, completely forgetting it was whisky and not water or juice. The drink only made things worse as he expelled it in a most ungentlemanly fashion, and turned completely red. Satisfied and terribly amused at his reaction - although not so much with the cleaning she needed to do - Victoria finally took pity on him and brought the man a glass of water, also instructing him to eat the bread.

"Are you trying to kill me?" He accused her when he finally stopped weeping and could feel his mouth again. She was cleaning the table at that point, barely containing her laughter.

"Let me remind you, Senor," she retorted "that I did tell you that the enchiladas were hot!"

"I thought you meant that you had just taken them out of the stove or whatever you use to cook those things! You didn't tell me they were made with actual burning fire inside!" He reproached her as he was using the napkin she had provided him with to clean himself.

"I can hardly read your mind, can I? And they are made with meat and chili peppers, not with fire!" She answered back as her bad mood was returning.

"Alright!" Duncan wisely conceded, as a smile crept on his face at looking at her. "You did warn me. It was my fault. And I think we've started on the wrong foot here. How about you bring me something else… less hot… the least hot you have, in fact. And I would be honored if you'd have lunch with me." He asked, seriously considering seducing the fiery woman. He always liked spirited ladies and she was, certainly, one of the most spirited he'd ever known. Not to mention, extremely attractive.

"As long as you understand that you are to pay for three portions, why not?" She replied, teasingly, suddenly finding herself ignoring her resolution not to flirt with the good-looking stranger. It served Diego right since he was spending his day with that woman!

"I understand that perfectly!" Duncan replied, wondering how much that would cost him and if he had enough pesos with him.

A few minutes later, after she had sent the Alcalde's lunch to his office with one of the lancers - considering that the man was avoiding to put foot into the tavern as long as Senora Del Rioblanco was there - and made sure her helpers could handle the workload without her, she returned to Duncan's table, bringing two portions of arroz con pollo, a pitcher of lemonade and two glasses.

"Lunch is on you, the lemonade is on me." She informed him.

"Lemonade?" He puffed. "I'd think some wine might go better with this delicious meal. My treat, of course!" Duncan gallantly offered.

"Very well!" She agreed, yet had no intention to become indebted to the man. "But I already have an open bottle in the kitchen. No use paying for a new one, since it would only go to waste otherwise."

About an hour and two bottles of wine later, Victoria, who had, uncharacteristically, overdone it with the alcohol and completely forgotten her duties, and Duncan, who very much enjoyed her company, were chatting and laughing like old friends. Unsure how to react to her employer's strange behavior, Pilar, one of Victoria's helpers, closed for siesta a little after 2 pm and left the taverness and her charming new guest all by themselves, in the empty taproom. Nobody bothered them for at least one more hour.

When they heard knocks on the door, though, a little before 3 pm, Duncan suggested they hide in his room, so that they wouldn't be bothered, and Victoria was drunk enough to agree. Once there, he tried to kiss her but, even in her inebriated state, the taverness mustered enough spirit to push him away. In fact, she pushed him away so hard that, in the very small room, he hit his head on the door frame and passed out on the floor, next to the bed, while she passed out on it.

At her return, an hour later, Pilar found them both sleeping in his room with the door open. She chuckled, and unsuccessfully tried to wake Victoria up. When that failed, she considered closing the door, but realized that such an action might harm the taverness' reputation more than a piece of gossip about her getting drunk ever would - especially since her erratic behavior had been noticed in the pueblo and already attributed to her split from the masked outlaw - so she went about her business, leaving them as they were, sleeping with the door open.

For the next hour, several of the patrons caught a glimpse of the scene in the small room, then joined the people in the taproom to gossip about the scandalous behavior of their favorite taverness, and that of the dashing stranger. Even De Soto, who had found out that the woman he was trying to avoid was away for the day, came to take a look, and, after instructing Mendoza to collect the travelers' tax as soon as the newcomer would awake, he left the establishment with a satisfied smile on his face, imagining Zorro challenging the man to a duel to save Victoria's reputation.

The fun ended when Don Alejandro returned for his bottle of whisky, and intervened, getting one of his vaqueros to carry Victoria to her room.

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*Padre = en. Father/Friar

*albondigas soup = en. meatball soup; carne assada = en. fried meat; arroz con pollo = en. rice with chicken; enchiladas = en. filled tortillas in sauce.

*Buen provecho! = en. Enjoy your meal!


	5. The surprise attack

It was already noon. Diego and Mya had been riding towards Povuu'nga, the village where the indigenous Tongva people of the area - or Gabrielenos, as the Spanish called them - believed their world and their lives had begun.

Mya was, as she had told Diego, truly interested in seeing the settlement situated a little over twenty miles from Los Angeles, but she didn't really intend to go there that day. All she wanted was some time alone with the caballero, as far away from probing eyes as possible.

It was a long ride and Diego knew it would take the entire day. What he did question, however, was the welcome they were going to get once there. He had visited Povuu'nga before, even befriended some of the natives. But he knew they did not take kindly to visitors, even those brought by a friend. Yet, when he had agreed to escort her that morning, he expected that the visit was but a pretext. So, now he was confused and increasingly worried by the minute.

As for Felipe, the young man had watched his father head into town, then told Don Alejandro he'd be fishing most of the day, and, with that excuse to justify his absence, he caught up with Diego and Mya a little west of the pueblo. From there, he started following the two, making sure to remain hidden, some five hundred feet behind, careful that nobody - Diego included - would notice he was there.

"We should take a break to rest the horses!" Mya indicated about two-and-a-half hours into their ride, as they neared a stream.

Diego agreed, gallantly offering her his hand to dismount. She took it but, instead of using it as intended, she used it in order to pull him towards her and descend from the horse straight into his arms, laying a passionate kiss on his lips. The caballero was so surprised by her move that he froze for a few seconds, yet never responded to that kiss. Mya retreated, and looked at him with some confusion when she didn't feel an immediate response from him. Is he playing hard to get? She wondered.

Diego just looked at her flabbergasted.

"Mya, what are you doing?" He asked in a calm, yet somehow intimidating tone, that was more reminiscent of Zorro than of Diego.

"Oh, please, Diego! I know you want me. No man spends as much time with a woman as you have spent with me, without wanting something in return. Luckily for you, I am not the kind of woman to oppose the charms of the opposite gender" She told him seductively. "We are all alone here… we can use the blankets under the saddles…"

"I'm afraid you are confused, Senora del Rioblanco!" Diego replied, taking a step back, appalled by her proposition, which went against everything he had been brought up to be. "I am not that kind of a man."

"I will show you things no other woman alive knows! I will give you pleasure beyond your wildest dreams!" She went on promising as she reached to kiss his neck.

Diego was quite uncomfortable with the situation, considering he was completely unprepared for it. The woman had come to Los Angeles to capture Zorro. He was Zorro. He had also developed a friendship with her, but she had clearly misread his intentions. Or perhaps he had given her reasons to interpret them the way she did. He was a bachelor, wealthy, handsome (at least he knew women saw him that way) and, as far as anyone thought, completely without attachments. He was, also, still just a man, and not completely immune to the charms of a seductress clearly set on making love to him.

Yet his heart belonged to Victoria, and so, he reasoned, did his body.

For a few moments, he remained frozen in place, his eyes closed as she reached to kiss his collarbone, and to open his shirt. He had often imagined Victoria doing that in the recent years. Mya placed soft kisses on his chest as she opened each new button, then ripped the last few buttons apart, eager to run her fingers on the contours of his muscles.

It was only then that Diego regained his senses and, as if just realizing what was happening, he shackled her hands.

"No!" He said as he took one more step back, then released her to turn around, starting to button his shirt back. "You are beautiful… and very intelligent… and if things were different… if circumstances were different… But I can't. I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression! But this cannot happen!"

She smiled, convinced he just needed more encouragement. Mya knew that men raised with a certain type of education had a good command of themselves, and did not easily give into their urges. So, as he was talking, she took off her riding suit, and stood naked, waiting for him to turn around.

When Diego tried to face her again, he caught one glimpse of the naked Mya, and rapidly turned his back to her again. "Please put your clothes back on!" He asked, this time hesitantly.

Felipe, who had taken position on a nearby hill in order to see what they were doing, had meanwhile turned red. Even though he tried, he found it impossible to stop staring at them wide-eyed and open-mouthed, waiting to see what his father would do, and inwardly praying he would be able to resist her. For all their sakes!

The caballero was not turning around, patiently waiting for Mya to get dressed. So she decided to make one more attempt, and pressed her naked body against his back, enveloping him in her arms, as her hands reached for his pants. She smiled as she sensed his obvious physical response to her new attempt.

Using all of his willpower to get himself free, Diego took a few steps away from her, hoping she would finally get the message. He didn't want to either anger or humiliate her, but he simply couldn't cheat on the woman he loved.

It was not enough, though. Now convinced he was only pretending not to want her so that he might have the upper hand in whatever sort of relationship he imagined they might have from then on, Mya stepped in front of him, and used a combat move he had never before seen to suddenly throw him on his back. As soon as he was down, she saddled him, kissing his chest as she restarted to unbutton his shirt, and moving down as her hands again reached for his pants.

After a few moments of deep confusion at what had just happened, Diego begun struggling to get away from her, suddenly afraid he might be unable and, soon enough, unwilling to do anything to stop her. Since he was incapable of hitting a woman, with his brain partly fried by the sensations she was stirring inside of him, he did the only thing he could think of at that point: he whistled. At hearing his command, his mare reared, accidentally hitting Mya, and leaving her unconscious.

Finally freed, he hurriedly covered her with a blanket and checked on her, noticing some blood on the back of her head, but failing to find any injury, since the wound had already healed. When he was certain that she was fine, just knocked unconscious, still questioning the source of the blood, Diego tried to wake her up but she didn't move. Looking around, he took his handkerchief and submerged it into the cold water of the nearby stream, hoping the coldness might have the desired effect. Not getting it, he decided Mya needed a doctor and transportation back to Los Angeles. The horses, however, wouldn't do, and he needed to also address how to get her dressed again. More so, he couldn't just leave her alone.

For the second time in ten minutes, he buttoned his shirt back up, tucking it into his pants, in an effort to regain a sense of decency. Realizing how the entire situation might seem to others, the caballero looked around, trying to decide how to proceed. It was then when he noticed Felipe.

Mounting his horse, he headed for him, embarrassed, for the first time in his life, to face the younger man.

"What are you doing here?" He asked his son when he reached him.

Felipe gestured his reply.

"You wanted to make sure I'd be safe?" Diego interpreted his signs with a mixture of relief, puzzlement and amusement in his voice. "You though I am vulnerable because she is a woman?" He continued. "Well… that wasn't a too-far-fetched guess." Diego agreed, smiling at his son.

*What happened?* Felipe gestured the question.

His father did not perceive the anger in his gestures.

"Apparently she had a different kind of attack in mind than the one I was prepared for. I didn't see that coming!" The tall caballero told him, still rather shaken by the recent events.

*What are you going to do now?* Felipe inquired next.

"I don't really know." He admitted. "Firstly, I need to make sure she is alright. Then… I guess it much depends on what she's going to do!"

*What do you mean?*

"Well… it certainly doesn't look good for me! A naked, unconscious woman, known to have accompanied me to a remote Indian village... She might press charges, as revenge for my refusal to give into her… advances. She could say I attacked her." He replied, sounding quite preoccupied. Such charges were hard to refute and their consequences would destroy much if not all he had accomplished during so many years fighting against tyranny. Not to mention it would also cost him Victoria's love and his own future. "What was I thinking agreeing to accompany her?" Diego proceeded to chide himself.

*Why didn't you…* The younger man tried to ask, but stopped mid-sentence.

"You know why!" Diego replied somehow angered by the question. "I'm in love with Victoria and a caballero doesn't cheat on the woman he loves! Have you been watching us the entire time?"

Felipe suddenly became interested in the grass growing at his feet, and the redness returned to his face.

"I'm guess I should be glad for more than one reason that I haven't… done anything. That's certainly not something I would have wanted you to see!" Diego uttered as he folded his arms across his chest. "Now… any idea regarding what I should do?"

Felipe pointed towards himself, then to his eyes, then to his father, then to Mya, still lying on the ground, about a hundred feet away from them.

"I doubt anyone would believe you if you'd try to defend me. You're my son, Felipe! People would just assume you are lying for me. If she presses charges…"

Felipe smiled back, and Diego looked at him puzzled. *I doubt anyone would believe her!*

"Why wouldn't they? I'm… me... and she's a woman."

*Exactly!* The younger man signed. *You're you: Diego de la Vega, a man of peace, non-aggressive, a poet and a journalist. She's the woman who humiliated the Alcalde easier and more successfully than Zorro has ever managed to! It would be clear to everyone that you're the victim, not her!*

"Not an image I'd like to perpetuate, though!" Diego replied with a sigh, then smiled, realizing his son was right. "Did you see how she took me down? I'm twice her size!" He asked, admiration in his voice. "That's one… special woman!" He concluded.

"I'll go get Victoria to help with dressing her, and Doctor Hernandez to have a look at her wound. You need to stay here, and make sure she is safe until we're back! If she wakes up, tell her… What am I saying? She doesn't understand your signs… Just make sure she stays put. Having her injured was certainly not one of my proudest moments, and I wouldn't want anything worse to happen to her. But… Felipe… try to keep your distance, alright?"

His son nodded, looking at Diego with innocent eyes. Moments later, his adoptive father was stirring Esmeralda into a gallop towards Los Angeles.

All the way there, he wondered how to explain everything to the woman he loved, and if she would believe him or hate him forever. She was the one woman he trusted to help him, though, and hoped she had a high enough opinion of his character as to not doubt his honor.

He arrived at the tavern during the siesta, and knocked on the closed door, but nobody answered. He didn't insist too much, unwilling to attract the attention of the sleepy lancer guarding the cuartel.

Realizing he couldn't count on the woman he loved, he considered his options, and headed for Doctor Hernandez's office. If anyone was qualified to both check on an injured woman and dress her, it was the doctor who had faithfully served the pueblo for over thirty years. Thus, with the promise to explain on the way, he asked the old man to accompany him in his wagon.

ZHZHZHZHZ

Doctor Hernandez listened to his story and remained pensive.

"She really took you down?" The old man eventually uttered.

"Yes. I know it's hard to believe but you know me. I know how it looks but it's the truth. I've never seen such a move. No wonder she defeated the Alcalde so easily. The woman is a very-well-trained fighter."

"So… you think… Do you think she might be able to overpower… Zorro?"

Diego hesitated for a few moments at hearing the question. "She might," he eventually answered. "Unless the injury she suffered… I hope she'll be alright, though."

"I do, too, Diego. I understand it was an accident that she got hit but I know you feel responsible, son, and I know you. However, if she proves to be fine, Zorro might do well to stay away from her!" The doctor concluded. "You really didn't find any injury?"

"None. There was blood on the back of her head but I was unable to find its source. It's why I came for you. That and the fact that I was unable to help her regain her senses. I was lucky that Felipe followed us. I didn't want to move her in that state and the only alternative would have been to dress her myself and ride back with her."

"It's usually better not to move patients with unidentified injuries. Look… I hope she is alright, but I also hope this incident might get us rid of her… And that you finally realize you've not been so clever in your behavior towards the woman. If you want to get her to leave, you can't let her think you are trying to seduce her!"

"Wh… What makes you think I was trying to get rid of her?"

"Diego… Please don't insult my intelligence. I've known you since you and your parents came here. You may be able to deceive everyone else in this pueblo, but don't believe for one second you can deceive me!"

"Deceive…"

The doctor stopped the wagon and, after a quick glance around to make sure there was no one for miles who could overhear them, he looked Diego straight in the eyes. "You've made everyone believe you are weak-willed and cowardly, but you are Zorro."

Several emotions crossed the face of the caballero at the doctor's words, from surprise to dread, to indecision.

"Don't fret, Diego!" The doctor continued. "I've treated you since you were a child. I know you, and I've suspected Zorro's identity ever since he showed up, a few days after your return form Madrid. Although, I admit, I was only sure when you had that nasty fall down the canyon, some seven or eight years ago! Or did you actually think that I'd be unable to put two and two together, and realize that it would have been too much of a coincidence if you and Zorro had a similar accident, the same exact day?"

"Nobody else reached that conclusion!" Diego replied, wondering if it made any sense to try and convince the doctor he was wrong. He decided against it. "You never said anything." He uttered, pensively.

"Of course, not! I never said anything to anyone, not even to my wife! I would never betray you, son. Just like all the other Los Angelinos, I have too great a debt towards you to ever do so! Nor will I ever be stupid enough to tell anyone that I know the identity of the man behind the mask." Doctor Hernandez continued. "But I do want you to know that you can count on my help whenever you'll need it. I've wanted to tell you this for a long time, but there never seemed to be an appropriate moment before."


	6. Blame it on the goat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AN: Warning: This chapter is PG 13 since it includes sexual content but nothing too explicit.

Felipe had tried to do as Diego had asked. He really tried, just as he tried to prevent himself from feeling jealous and upset with his adoptive father.

Mya, despite being his age – or so he had thought back then - only had eyes for Diego, who was at least twelve years his elder. He understood that there was a certain charisma his father was emanating, even when he was pretending to be the studious half of the man he was. Felipe himself had felt its pull, and he had, from a very young age, known he'd trust and protect Diego unconditionally, going as far as to sacrifice himself for him, should that be necessary.

Yet he couldn't help the way he was feeling towards the green-eyed woman, nor the wish that she would stop paying so much attention to his father, and start paying more attention to him.

Certain they were meant for each other, in his head, Felipe had many times reproached her, telling her how she proved to be no different than any other young woman of the pueblo. True, it was not Diego they were infatuated with, but Zorro, their dashing, brave, invincible hero. Still, the young man knew they were both the same man, his father, so it made no difference in his mind. That was why he and Mya had many times imagined-quarreled, and each time Felipe had forgiven her.

The reality was, however, that the woman, while stirring up all sorts of feelings, passions and fantasies within Felipe, also frightened him, for a reason he could not understand.

So, as Diego had made him promise, the youngest De la Vega kept his distance from the beautiful widow lying naked next to the stream.

That lasted until the goat showed up.

He saw it coming from behind some bushes, heading straight for the blanket covering Mya, then proceeding in munching on it. So, forgetting his father's request to stay away, Felipe rapidly hid his muskets, and ran towards the young woman, doing his best to chase away the intruder.

The goat eyed him defiantly, continued munching until he got close, then, for a few moments, it seemed to him that the animal was considering whether to confront him or run away. It did the sensible thing, and headed full speed in the opposite direction than the one from whence Felipe was coming.

Relieved, the young man, who had followed the goat for some fifty feet to make sure it wouldn't return, came back to check on Mya. He arrived just as she regained her consciousness, thus suddenly finding himself targeted with an intense stare by the woman.

"Where's Diego?" She asked him, holding the blanket firmly on top of her naked body and looking around them.

*He returned to the pueblo to get help when you were hit on the head!* Felipe signaled, but she had no idea what those signs meant.

"Never mind!" She replied, then eyed him curiously. "Why are you here?"

Felipe signaled that he had followed Diego. That, she somehow understood.

"Why?" She asked, then her eyes grew wide. "You were jealous, weren't you? Your father… the way he opposed my advances… I've only seen that in men who were very much in love with someone else. Is that it? I know you're adopted, and not his real son…but I never suspected you were lovers…" The look of horror she saw on the young man's face replied for him. "I'm sorry…" She rapidly regretted her words. "I didn't mean to offend you or your father… but… who is it then? All Diego does is come to the tavern and the only…the taverness… He's in love with Victoria, isn't he?"

Felipe just stared at her wide-eyed, the horror, clear on his face just moments earlier, turning into a mixture of guilt and anguish which the green-eyed woman took as a confirmation.

"So… the most eligible bachelor in Los Angeles is in love with the woman Zorro broke up with!"

The young man was now afraid that, at the speed with which she was making the connections, she might soon conclude that his father and Zorro were one and the same. Then what was he to do?

"But you… I wasn't wrong about you! You were jealous, weren't you? You were jealous… of your father. You like me, don't you, Felipe?" She surprised him by concluding, instead.

He looked guilty and couldn't think of a reply, even less signal one.

Mya took a few moments to think. She never had any inhibition when it came to intimacy. That had never been part of her upbringing, so it was not part of her character. There was a time when she had taken several lovers at the same time. But times had slowly changed and religion had taught people that satisfying one's desires went against God. She never felt that way. In fact, she believed that the reasons why that change had occurred were mainly related to the need to prevent the spread of disease and of out-of-wedlock pregnancies. None of those issues concerned her, though.

She was disappointed that her plan for Diego had failed. Mya hadn't been with a man in a while, and had been fantasizing about being with him for a while already. But there was Felipe. Silent, sweet Felipe, who was smitten with her.

He's quite handsome! The woman thought, taking a good look at him for the first time since she had met him. He was several inches shorter than his father, yet taller than her, nonetheless. Well-built, but rather thin, his brown hair was a longer than most men wore it, yet suited him perfectly. He was not really the type she was attracted to, always having had a preference for very tall and muscular men, which emanated a sense of danger, even without them knowing it; men like his father. But she did like him, nonetheless.

At that moment, Mya wondered why was it that she had never truly noticed him before.

As a (presumed) deaf-mute, Felipe had a certain talent for disappearing into the background, so not many paid him due attention, despite him being the adopted son of a very wealthy caballero. She hadn't paid him much attention, either, thus far, at least not as a woman. Yet, he was of her kind, and, should their paths ever cross again, experience had taught her that a former lover was much less eager to claim her head than a man she had resisted. Not that he would have had a chance to win against her. Still…

"Are you a virgin, Felipe?" She found herself asking with a devious smile, as she noted his reaction at her stare.

The young man nodded, feeling a mixture of embarrassment and panic.

"Then I shall sacrifice a virgin today!" She declared, taking the blanket off of her, and revealing her perfect body in all its splendor.

The young man could do nothing but take in the view, completely fascinated.

Diego had made sure to teach him all he knew about fighting, science, art, history, medicine, foreign languages and politics. Yet he had taught him nothing about making love to a woman. It was not a proper subject to discuss with one's adopted son, and even less appropriate to discuss with a servant, which was what Felipe had been in the De la Vega household until just the previous year.

Mya thought she had never seen a more innocent young man in her entire (and very long) life.

"Come here!" The green-eyed woman encouraged him seductively, lifting her right hand, and offering it to him.

ZHZHZHZ

"Then what happened?" Joe asked when Felipe stopped for a few moments.

The Immortal remembered how, at the moment she had made the invitation, he had found breathing almost impossibly hard and a strange, painful knot suddenly appeared in his gut.

He had kneeled next to her, offering his hand, as requested, and she took it to her round breasts. "There's no one around, and you have my permission to touch me anyway you want," she had told him, and he no longer had any chance to resist.

Mya had helped him undress, all the while looking straight into his eyes, then kissed his chest and suckled on his nipples as she slowly pushed him to lie down on his back. Moments later, she saddled him, lowering her face to give him a slow and intense kiss, pushing her tongue into his mouth and letting it dance freely with his.

As she moved on top of him, he soon felt lost in her and in the new feelings she was awakening deep inside his body. When he climaxed for the first time, unaware of what was happening to him, he had been quite convinced that he was about to burst into flames, or transform into fireworks, just like the ones his father had used years earlier to fool the Alcalde and his men into thinking that an army was attacking them.

The two-hundred-year-old young man smiled as he remembered that, when it was all over and she was resting her head on his chest, the first thing going through his mind was that he could not understand how Diego had mustered the willpower to get away when that amazing woman was willing to give him such pleasure. He also remembered how grateful he had been to his father for having done so.

"Don't bother telling me. By that grin on your face, I can deduce it myself! And I don't need the details." Joe interrupted his train of thoughts.

Felipe smiled at him. "I had my share of first times that day. Among others, the first time I ever saw disappointment in my father's eyes when he looked at me!"

"He saw the two of you?"

"Fortunately, not. I doubt we would have ever been able to look into each other's eyes again, if he had. But it was not hard for him to realize it a little later, just by glancing at me…"

ZHZHZHZ

It was wrong, Felipe knew that much, just as he knew that Diego would be disappointed in him. His father had taught him to never take advantage of a woman, and had just given him an example to follow by refusing Mya's advances.

But that was different. Diego loved Victoria, and Felipe was very convinced that he loved Mya. Not to mention that it had been her idea all along. Plus, the younger man was quite certain that he neither wanted, nor would ever want anybody else but her. So how could making love with the woman of his dreams be wrong when he was committed to love her forever?

"I enjoyed that!" Mya confessed, as she lay on top of him, one hand playing with his chest hair as she was lovingly gazing into his caramel eyes. "I think I might like to keep you… as long as I am in Los Angeles, at least." She continued, and Felipe looked, again, at her with some puzzlement. She couldn't understand, even if he'd try to gesture, that he wanted her to stay with him forever. Just then, she gave him another passionate kiss, and he thought that she had read his mind, already wondering what would Diego think if he was to marry before him. "Now, tell me when you're ready, and I will teach you some more." She continued, and Felipe felt ready soon enough.

Another full hour they spent deeply immersed in Felipe's sexual education, and he had never worn a wider and dummer grin than he had on when his father and the doctor met up with them on their way to the pueblo.

Diego eyed him and understood, at once, just like the doctor also understood, what they had been up to since he had left for Los Angeles.

That was when Felipe saw disappointment and a little anger creeping its way onto his father's face. Diego, however, had a tight rein on his feelings, so they soon subsided, and he did his best to pretend he had understood nothing.

Ever the caballero, he first asked Mya if her head was fine and if she was feeling alright, then apologized, explaining that he had gone to get help.

"Don't worry! I'm feeling much better. Thank you for your concern!" She replied, dismissively.

They spent the return journey in embarrassing silence, both younger men avoiding eye contact. In order to do that, Diego was glancing at the scenery around them, watching the birds, the trees, the rocks, the padre who, for about ten minutes, he had believed was following them.

When they neared the hacienda*, Diego asked Felipe to go home, promising a long conversation was to follow at a later time. The old doctor decided to take advantage of the fact that he was in the area and visit a patient with a chronic condition, leaving Diego and Mya alone as they rode the last mile into Los Angeles.

"I'm sorry, Diego. I had no idea you have feelings for Victoria. I wouldn't have made any advances on you if I'd known." She surprised him by uttering, as soon as they were alone.

"Ah… What makes you think that..." He questioned.

"The look on Felipe's face when I came to that conclusion confirmed as much. Look… I know men, and no man would refuse taking advantage of the situation I put you in, unless there was someone else. She's a beautiful, independent woman, but I doubt that she knows how you feel about her. And I guess her ill-conceived romance with Zorro put you off of courting her?"

He didn't answer, neither confirming, nor denying her supposition.

"Felipe…" He eventually asked.

"He's a wonderful young man. You taught him well."

"Not well enough, it seems." He chided himself. "Mya… I can tell that something has happened between you and my son. I had asked him to stay away from you, and I would bet my life that he would have never even considered forcing himself on you…"

"He didn't. What happened between us, happened because we both wanted it to happen. I am no man's victim, Diego!" She assured him. "Did you know he was jealous of you?"

"Felipe?" He exclaimed and asked, at the same time, judging by the outraged intonation of his voice.

"Yes. Felipe. I think he fancies himself in love with me. And that didn't just happen today. He's always accompanied you when you were coming to see me, but, frankly, I was probably too absorbed in the idea of you fancying me to notice him. I must be losing my touch. I used to be so good at knowing exactly what men felt about me: love, lust, hate, fear…"

"Why would men hate or fear you?"

"Why wouldn't they?" She asked playfully, although there was a hint of both pride and regret in her voice. "I wasn't always the person I am today. I used to be cruel once. I did many mistakes I now regret. Things I would do differently if I could. But I can take nothing back. Life has taught me at least as much."

"You are so young to be talking like that!" He remarked.

"Only on the outside. Inside… inside, I am very old. And very knowledgeable." She confessed, then noticed that he had become pensive, and reasoned he was probably preoccupied about his son. "Don't worry about Felipe, Diego! He might be infatuated, but he'll get over it soon enough. Love never lasts too long with men, from my experience. Your gender is too obsessed with conquering. Women, enemies, new territories… it makes no difference, really, as long as it makes you feel like a victor. And when that feeling goes away, you move on. To the next woman. To the next conquest." Mya stated melancholily. "But, then, I am hardly the one to talk!" She added, as if reproaching herself for sins he believed her too young to have committed.

"Not all men are like that!" Diego replied, some uncertainty in his voice, as he questioned whether his own behavior was not simply the confirmation of her words.

Zorro was a conqueror. Of Alcaldes, lancers, bandits, and people's hearts. He thought himself in love with Victoria, but he was also obsessed with conquering her. He had done so as Zorro. Now he wanted to attempt it, again, as Diego. A moment of panic ensued as he wondered whether he'd truly still love her after that battle for her heart was to be completed.

"I'll talk to him." Diego felt the need to tell Mya. "No De la Vega will behave like that and avoid his responsibilities." He stated, wondering at which De la Vega he was actually referring to: his son or himself. "Felipe will marry you!" and I will marry Victoria! His mind silently added.

"Marry me?" She chuckled. "I don't want to get married, Diego, and I will allow no man to force me to do so! Not again! Certainly not, if I can prevent it! Look, I lo… like your son. He is sweet, and kind, and I can't remember the last time I've ever met anyone like him. But it was just lovemaking. Nothing more. There will never be anything more between us! I'm not looking for a husband, nor am I looking to settle down. I will be out of this pueblo as soon as I get what I came for, and you'll never see me again!"

"What? But… He's compromised you… your honor… He might have… You might be carrying his child!" Diego stuttered, feeling both flabbergasted and infuriated by the woman.

She chuckled in reply. "I cannot conceive children, Diego, so don't warry about that! As for my honor… I assure you that my honor was never between my legs, but in my heart. And I had to learn the true meaning of the word before even having any, in the first place..."

"I've never heard a woman talk like you, Mya!" The tall caballero confessed. "Certainly not one so young…"

"As I told you already, I only look young. In reality… In reality, I'm ancient! At least, that's how I feel." She smiled, pretending she was just making a joke. Diego saw the pretense, and wondered about her words, but, at that point, he didn't have enough information to understand their meaning.

"So… Felipe… That's all he is to you? Someone to keep you entertained until you capture Zorro?" He asked a few minutes later, as they were nearing the pueblo.

"I don't believe I'd put it exactly like that. But… in a way… yes." She admitted.

Diego was silent for a few moments, pondering what to do next. "In that case, I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to see my son anymore."

"He's 22!" She exclaimed. "He doesn't need your permission!"

"Yet, I am his father and, considering your intentions towards him, it is my duty to protect him, and his reputation…"

"What's with you and this issue about reputation! A man's reputation is not ruined by having more women! Certainly not, if he's unmarried and without attachments. It's increased! Is the woman's reputation which suffers, but, in my case, as I have pointed out, things are different than for most women. As I have already demonstrated, I'm no weakling, unable to stand my ground! I'm any man's equal." She pointed out. Or, rather, superior, her mind added. "As for Felipe… he might learn a thing or two, and that will make the woman he'll, eventually, decide to marry, a very happy lady. You wouldn't stand in the way of that, would you?"

"You don't understand! I have educated him a certain way. I can't allow… such behavior. It is unbecoming of a caballero, undignified and wrong!"

"Wrong? Diego… you truly puzzle me! You support a bandit who perpetuates violence, yet believe lovemaking without consequences to be wrong!"

"I support all those who fight for justice!" He declared, suddenly remembering the woman was set on bringing about his own demise. "And nothing is without consequences! Lovemaking is not a sport, Mya! If what you said is true and this continues, think of what it might do to Felipe when, one day, you'll just decide to leave him! He's my son. My duty is to defend him. Even from you, if it comes to that." Diego uttered, barely controlling the threatening tone in his voice. By that point, his mind was playing, on repeat, an image of a heartbroken Felipe, and a heartbroken Felipe resembled much too closely to the deaf and mute boy he had once stumbled upon, on a battlefield littered with bodies.

"Fine!" She reluctantly agreed. "I won't get near him again. I'll even give him the news myself, to spare you that discussion." Mya promised, and, at Diego's scolding look she added "I'll be gentle!"

ZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZ

Hacienda = en. estate (in this context- mansion)


	7. Myrina

In the meanwhile, both Victoria and Duncan had awakened, and were struggling with a bad hangover and with trying to remember what had happened after Pilar had left the tavern. Don Alejandro assured her that nobody thought any less of her because of the incident, and that it was completely understandable in her current state. 

Only it wasn’t. Victoria knew that he was referring to the split-up with Zorro, but, in reality, it had nothing to do with the masked outlaw, and everything to do with his son, as she finally admitted to herself. 

She was mortified, though, despite the old don’s words, and couldn’t look anyone in the eyes, keeping her right hand on her face as she stood at one of the tables at the back of the taproom, talking with the man who had been her surrogate father for a decade and a half at that point. 

De Soto had returned to the tavern as soon as he was informed that she was awake, and was having the time of his life watching her fidget as Mendoza, sitting right in front of him, was telling him something he wasn’t finding interesting enough to hear. 

Duncan had less trouble dealing with the situation. He was no two-hundred-year-old virgin, and had not lived for two centuries in vain. In all that time, he had been with many women and had also learned that the scandal will fade as soon as a new piece of gossip would become more enticing. He was feeling bad for the taverness, though. After spending years in the United States, he had thought her to be just like the women working in the taverns there: a woman with low morals, always ready to get an attractive man into her bed. Instead, he realized he had been wrong and the woman, despite her romance with the pueblo’s legendary outlaw, was considered one of the most respectable senoritas in the territory.

After reluctantly paying the travelers tax and getting a glass of lemonade from Pilar, he ignored the pain that light was causing his eyes, and walked out on the terrace, looking at the plaza. De Soto, who was in a very good mood, chose that very moment to join him and see if he could find some hot, new piece of information, straight from the stranger’s lips. 

“Nothing happened!” Duncan replied to a rather indecent question asked by the Alcalde. “She had a bit too much to drink, as did I. She didn’t like my advances, so she pushed me into the nearby door. I was knocked unconscious, and I guess she passed out on the bed.” He explained to the amused De Soto. Annoyed by the suggestive look he received in return, the older man decided to change the subject. “Tell me, Alcalde, why have you never captured that masked bandit of yours, El Zorro?” He inquired.

The other man was taken aback by the question, but the grin didn’t completely disappear from his face. Instead, thinking of Zorro, he was wondering what would the masked man do to the stranger for having achieved in one afternoon the one thing he had spent a decade avoiding: compromising Victoria.

“Why? Are you also a bounty hunter?” De Soto mocked.

“Maybe I want to become one.” Duncan suggested.

“What can I say?” The Alcalde inquired. “The man is a wanted outlaw with a price on his head. He enjoys thwarting my plans and managed to fool these good people into believing he is some kind of hero.”

“I know that much. But how good is he with the sword? What’s his fighting style? Has he even been wounded? How does he look?” Duncan insisted.

“Unfortunately, he’s rather good with the weapon, but I have no idea who his fencing master was, nor did I ever recognized his style. He seems to combine several. Despite the fact that I was one of the best swordsmen in my class at the Academy, I only managed to get him injured once, and that seemed to have no effect on him. The only other time I’ve seen him wounded was when some Indians made him pass some challenges… they beat him to a pulp, then forced him to defend himself against their best warrior. When he did that, they had him climb the so-called Wall of Death and he prevailed, despite his injuries. As for the way he looks, if I knew, he would have already hanged! That mask, unfortunately, does a very good job at hiding his features!” 

“Yes, I understand that. But you must have noticed some other characteristics. Is he tall or short? Is he blonde or black-haired? What color are his eyes?”

De Soto puffed and tried to remember, reluctantly. “Tall… Taller than me, at least. Black-haired, wears a moustache. But hair can be painted and a moustache can be glued on, both of which would be in character for that masked fiend. His eyes… Light-colored. Perhaps blue or green... or light brown. I’ll take a better look the next time I see him.”

Duncan suddenly felt the presence of another Immortal nearby. “I believe you are about to have that opportunity!” He stated, getting up from the bench on which he was sitting just as Diego entered the plaza from the street behind the tavern, mounted on Esperanza. 

“I’m afraid you must be mistaken…” De Soto replied, dismissing the caballero after only one look in his direction. Duncan wondered how was he not seeing the unmasked man he had just described heading towards them, but said nothing of his suspicions. De Soto continued his train of thoughts “I hardly did anything to determine his presence in the…” at that point he stopped talking as he saw Mya also appearing right behind Diego. “That woman!” He exclaimed. “I have to go, Senor!” The Alcalde informed him, and hurriedly made his way towards his office, while Duncan looked towards his departing figure with some amusement, then turned to eye the woman closely. 

“Myrina!” He whispered as she climbed down her mount, and came to stand before him. 

“Duncan MacLeod!” She greeted. “I hope you’re not here for me! Or, should I hope you are?” She phrased her first question as a warning, and the second as an invitation.

“I’ve learnt enough from my mistakes to know that the best answer to those questions is ‘No’,” he uttered, although his tone was teasing. “I’m neither as young not as foolish as I was the last time we’ve met, Your Highness!”

“Your Highness?” Diego questioned, approaching them after having tied the horses to the pole in front of the tavern.

“Just a joke between old friends, Diego!” Mya clarified. “This is Duncan Macleod!” She introduced him. 

“Diego de la Vega. Welcome to Los Angeles, Senor MacLeod!” The caballero greeted politely. “Are you also here to hunt down Zorro, as Senora Del Rioblanco?”

“Del Rioblanco? As in one of the two rivers uniting to form the Amazon?” Duncan noted with a smile, then, turning towards Diego, he sized him up, wondering if he was right when first he saw him. The caballero fit the description of the masked outlaw, but was no Immortal. “You don’t need to worry about me, Senor. I am just passing through! But I’d stay away from her if I were you!” He warned, gaining a disapproving stare from Mya. 

“You can’t still be upset, Duncan!” She uttered in disbelief.

“Upset? Why would I be upset?”

“Diego!” Don Alejandro called at seeing him on the terrace, just before he threw a scolding look in Duncan’s direction. “You’re finally back, Son! What happened to you? Don’t tell me you’ve gotten yourself lost again?” He continued asking, signaling for the tall caballero to follow him inside. 

Duncan watched them as they entered, considered how the old don must be regretting his generosity towards him at that point, then turned back towards Mya.   
“So… You’ve decided to come to the New World after all!”

“Yes. I finally got tired of the old one. New World… New Start… I wandered the Old World for long enough!”

2283 years, to be more precise. 

Myrina, as Mya’s true name was, had lived her first life as an Amazon warrior, and died, in battle, at the age of merely twenty-three. When she was resurrected as an Immortal, there was no one to guide her, or to explain her the rules of The Game. No one to tell her that she should fear beheading, since there was no coming back from that; no one to tell her about the Holy Ground providing sanctuary against attacks from other Immortals; no one to explain The Quickening, or The Gathering to her. 

She was, however, already a very skilled fighter, perfectly able to hold her own against any man.

Instead of fearing her resurrection, her sister Amazons revered her and made her their queen, certain that the Gods were walking with her. Soon, most of their tribes decided to follow her, and she led them into epic battles, defeating any enemy who dared oppose them. They pillaged and killed, leveled villages and towns, leaving only destruction in their wake. So feared she soon became that entire citadels started surrendering before her, not even daring to fight her army. 

That, however, all came to an abrupt end the day she met the first other Immortal. He was tall and strong, much older than her and much more experienced in battle; a Thracian warrior set on defending his people from the threat she and her army posed. 

Their fight almost resulted in her permanent demise, had the man decided to take her head on the battlefield. But that was against the rules. Instead, he planted a knife into her heart, and took the body away, imprisoning the Amazonian queen with the intention of beheading her later, in combat, when she’d feel well enough to fight him. 

She was lucky, though. The Thracian was an honorable man, too honorable for his own good. At realizing she had never had any guidance or training after becoming Immortal, before their duel started, he took the time to explain to her the rules followed by their kind. It turned out to be one of the last mistakes he had ever made.

Armed with all the knowledge he had offered her, Myrina, who was much less honorable than the man and only cared about her own survival, tricked him and won their fight, taking his head. It had been her first Quickening and, with it, came a different perspective on life. Instead of an aggressor, from that moment on, she became a protector. 

That was why she had never returned to her tribe, but travelled east, helping the tribes she found on her way, never spending too long in one place, and avoiding, as much as possible, the other Immortals. Unable to bear children, she found that being barren was as much of a blessing as it seemed, to others, as a curse. She could have any man she wanted, any time, with no consequences, no disease to catch, no child to raise and sacrifice for. She was free in the truest sense of the word. And she took full advantage of her freedom, in all the time she had it. 

Thus, apart from protecting others, mainly defenseless women and children, most of her life Myrina spent as a lover. The idea of being somebody’s wife seemed appalling to her, so she only married, when circumstances didn’t give her any other choice, then left her husbands as soon as she had the opportunity. 

In almost 2300 years, she had had fourteen different husbands and thousands of lovers. She had known great victories and great defeats. Had suffered losses, seen all her efforts prevail, then fail nonetheless, had witnessed new religions spread across the world and transforming to become unrecognizable to those who had been there at their beginnings. She had been worshiped, followed, chased away, killed and enslaved, used and served. 

Myrina had met great leaders and great oppressors, conquerors and conquered, and had done her share of fighting, perhaps more than most Immortals walking the Earth. In the end, she decided that fighting for the mortals was useless. They were all caught up in their own cycle, never learning, forever condemned to repeat the same mistakes. 

She had once been capable of love, but, in time, closed her heart to the others, no longer willing to put herself through the pain she experienced every time someone she cared for died. Detachment was the only way to protect herself, and be able to still enjoy life. Now, however, she was suddenly fearing that that protective wall she had built might crumble and fall because of two caramel-colored eyes. It’s why she had told Diego that she wanted to keep seeing Felipe. It was also why she didn’t insist when he had argued against that idea. Not so much because she might hurt him – which she knew she would either way – but because she was afraid of becoming in any way attached to the young man.

Duncan showing up shook her from her thoughts, and made her wonder if his presence might be able to get her back on track, and keep her mind from focusing on Felipe. After all, she was not there for him, but to stop a masked bandit.

“Bounty hunter?” Duncan inquired.

“Why not? I’m better than the ones they have here.”

“Still playing with food before eating it, I see…” He commented, referring to Diego, unaware Myrina was not even suspecting that the caballero was the man she was after.

“I really have no idea what you are talking about, Duncan! Now, if you don’t mind, I need a bath! Actually, you also look like you need one. We can share…” She suggested and immediately found herself regretting the suggestion for a reason she couldn’t yet understand.

“No, thank you!” He replied and, despite being upset with her, he found himself smiling.

“Suit yourself!” Mya answered with some relief, then entered the establishment, heading for her room.

Duncan took another look around the plaza then followed her inside to get himself another drink.


	8. About that ring...

"What happened, Father? What is so urgent?" Diego asked as Don Alejandro was dragging him to the table near the stairs, where Victoria was drinking her second large cup of coffee for that afternoon. The looks the other patrons gave her were not lost on him, nor was the clear embarrassment on the taverness' face.

"Victoria!" Diego exclaimed when they reached her. "Are you alright? What's wrong? Has someone harmed you?"

"What do you care?" She asked, looking at him defiantly.

"Victoria!" Don Alejandro chided her.

"Will you tell me what happened?" Diego addressed his father this time.

"Victoria and the new arrival, Senor Duncan, had a little too much to drink, and she fell asleep in his room." Don Alejandro explained as his son's face darkened.

"If he laid a finger on her…!" Diego threatened, completely forgetting the character he was playing for everyone in the pueblo.

"You'll do what?" Victoria asked, causing him to turn back around. "It's all your fault, Diego!" She continued, as he looked at her dumbfounded. "If you hadn't gone riding with that… with that… woman… none of this would have happened! What do you see in her, anyway? And what happened between the two of you to make you lose five buttons?" She inquired, eyeing him spitefully.

"Nothing happened! How can you even ask that?" He protested, their voices loud enough to silence the tavern.

"Well… not nothing!" Mya chose that moment to intervene at realizing she was witnessing a quarrel between lovers. Victoria, unaware of her intentions, stared intently at her as if she wanted to kill her. "I tried to seduce him, got him shirtless, but he opposed my advances, and ran as fast as he could! Or will you deny it?" She addressed Diego.

Some of the patrons burst into laughter at hearing her comments, imagining the caballero running away from the beautiful woman.

"Well… Not ran, as much as rode… And only because I needed to get help…" He was about to explain that he needed to get her dressed, but was too much of a gentleman to actually reveal that part to others, knowing it would completely destroy the woman's reputation. While she claimed she didn't care about it, he was not willing to cause her any harm.

"Yes! Of course, you needed help!" Victoria chuckled, having decided on her own version of the story. She had been right about the woman, but completely wrong about him. As she realized that, her expression changed and she simply stared lovingly at Diego. "I think I got drunk because I was jealous of you!" She confessed. "I almost ended up in another man's bed because of that poor decision! What am I saying? I did end up in another man's bed!" She exclaimed, taking her hand back to her face to hide behind it.

"But nothing happened," Duncan stated, taking advantage of the silence to state his version of events. "I did try to kiss her, and she pushed me away… so hard that I hit my head and was knocked unconscious. But I had no idea that she was not available… And I meant no disrespect to the Senorita."

Diego turned to eye him, assessing the truth of his words. Satisfied that the man seemed genuinely regretful and concerned about Victoria, he turned back to look at her, wondering how to proceed from there. He had believed it was yet too early to start courting her, having ended her romance with his masked self only a little over a month earlier, but that belief was mainly due to his conviction that she would reject such a proposal, since she still loved Zorro. Her jealousy, however, proved the contrary. At that point, Diego, therefore realized that the perfect opportunity to court the woman he loved had just presented itself and, should he fail to grab it might give her the wrong message and annihilate his chances to one day make her his wife.

He stared at her, assessing his options, as shy smiles crept on both their faces. Soon enough, they transformed into chuckles.

"So… you are jealous… of me?" He asked, hoping that such a disclosure would not make people start to suspect the truth about him. "But I thought you still love Zorro!" Diego asked, hiding the joy he felt at her words behind a puzzled look.

"I had thought so, too! This comes as much of a surprise to you as it is to me!" Victoria answered.

"It's because of… Diego that you've been behaving so… so… recklessly lately? And here I thought it was because of Zorro!" Don Alejandro remarked with a renewed perspective on things, while more chuckles were heard from the nearby tables.

Diego tensed a little when his father uttered that phrase, but only Victoria noticed, and she misinterpreted that reaction.

"I can't explain it myself…" she told both De la Vegas "but, yes… it was all because of Diego. I didn't like to see you with another woman…"

"So… What do you want to do about it?" The tall caballero asked the one he loved, ignoring everyone else in the room.

"Then why don't you two get married, and put an end to all this nonsense?" Don Alejandro suggested. At their confused stares, he continued. "Well, obviously, you are in love with each other, even if it seems hard to believe it… even to admit it." He uttered as his grasp of the new reality in front of him started to improve. "Otherwise you" he pointed at Victoria "would not be so impulsive and misguided as you've been recently, and you" he pointed at Diego "wouldn't just run away from beautiful women throwing themselves at you… or, come to think about it" he continued "it might not be that out-of-character in your case, Son…" more chuckles were heard from the nearby tables. "Still," he continued, ignoring the other patrons "even you must admit that you need a wife like Victoria, to keep you… grounded and, if you are lucky, awake some passion for life in you! And Victoria, you know I've always considered you as a daughter. Nothing would please me more than fro you to become a member of the family."

Diego pretended to ponder the idea, then silently agreed, looking expectantly towards Victoria.

"I believe this is when you decide whether to propose…" She informed him.

"Marriage? Isn't that a bit too… sudden?" Diego asked her, dissimulating his happiness with how things were going, since he knew it was important to continue acting like the weak-willed, studious caballero he had spent the last decade pretending to be.

"Nonsense!" Don Alejandro again felt the need to give them a push. "You've been best friends since you were children! You know everything about each other," Diego's mind silently contradicted him, but his face did not betray those thoughts. "What reason is there to wait? Neither of you has any other commitments; you are already past the appropriate age for marriage; you like each other's company and, as I had already mentioned, despite having taken your time to realize it, you are in love, aren't you?" The old don continued. "So… What are you waiting for, Diego?"

"I don't even have a ring!" He replied, trying to give the impression that he was not certain he wanted to take that step.

"Oh… Miguel!" Don Alejandro called the vaquero who was accompany him "I will send him to fetch the one your mother left for you to give to the woman you'd want to marry. You know which one…" He said, addressing his son, whose face instantly drained of blood.

"I know!" Diego exclaimed trying to stop his father from saying anything more. "I would, however, prefer to give Victoria… a new one… I'll can go buy one right now in Senor Murillo's shop!"

"Nonsense, Son! That ring is a family heirloom. It's gorgeous, Victoria, and it will look beautiful on your finger…" Don Alejandro carried on.

"Why don't you let her judge that for herself?" Diego asked, fidgeting for real this time.

"I'm sure you'll love it!" Don Alejandro stated and Diego let out a breath he was holding, thinking he might be out of the woods. He was wrong. "Miguel!" Don Alejandro exclaimed as the man got there. "Go to the hacienda and ask Maria to get you my wife's wedding ring – she knows where I keep it. It has a big emerald in the middle, surrounded by diamonds! Then get here as fast as you can!" The don instructed his man, who just nodded and hurried to leave.

Diego briefly considered having someone steal the ring on the vaquero's way back, but realized it was already too late, as he glanced at Victoria.

She had been smiling at both De la Vegas during the discussion, then her countenance slowly transformed into wonder and confusion at realizing Don Alejandro was describing the ring Zorro had given her, then taken back.

There was no way for Diego to miss that realization and the obvious conclusion she had already reached.

"May I talk to Victoria in private?" He asked, offering her his hand.

She hesitated for a moment, than looked at him angrily, but allowed Diego to guide her towards the back of the tavern. From there, they silently walked some fifty feet away from the pueblo. In all that time, the taverness didn't take her eyes off of him for even one moment, attentively studying his face for the very first time, and wondering how come she had never noticed the similarities before. Then she remembered how he had tested her, pushing her into revealing to him her feelings towards Zorro, into revealing to Zorro how she felt towards Diego, taking back the ring and the promise that went with it and her wonder soon turned into anger.

After they made sure they were alone and nobody was watching or eavesdropping on their conversation, she slapped him with all the force she could muster, feeling her entire body trembling with rage.

"I probably deserved that." He agreed with her reaction, rubbing his face.

She crossed her arms and didn't say a word, turning her back to him.

"I never intended to really let you go. I just thought that, by giving you up as… him, I might have a chance to court and win your affections the only way that would allow us to get married." He explained.

"Were you ever going to tell me?" She puffed, turning around to look into his eyes.

"No. I thought it best not to. Not even Father knows…" He conceded.

"You are the most deceitful, maddening…" She started to accuse him, but Diego spontaneously took her into his arms and kissed her. He put all the love and passion he felt for her into that one kiss, and left Victoria breathless. "That doesn't mean that I forgive…"She uttered, as soon as their lips parted, but he kissed her again, making her completely forget how upset she was with him at that instant, just as his father, followed by Sergeant Mendoza and several other people, exited the tavern to find out what was going on and found them that way. Victoria gave in and crossed her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss even further.

"Am I to understand that a talk with the padre would be in order?" Don Alejandro asked.

Diego ceased his attack on Victoria's lips, and just looked at her with the most adoring look he could muster.

"Yes." She replied, while staring back into his blue eyes. "And tell him to marry us as soon as possible!" She added, looking at Don Alejandro. Turning back towards Diego, who embraced her, she whispered. "But don't think I won't make you suffer for what you've done!"

"I'm looking forward to that!" He replied, making her blush, then offered her his arm, around which she wrapped her own, looking possessively towards the man she was soon to marry.


	9. Fire work

Diego was so happy with the sudden developments, which brought him so much closer and so much sooner to his expected wedding to Victoria, that he completely forgot to talk to Felipe about Mya the evening of his engagement.

The younger man was in a similar mood, and was only waiting for the appropriate moment to ask his father for his blessing to propose matrimony to the woman he loved. In fact, after being told about Diego and Victoria's approaching nuptials, the youngest De la Vega was now daydreaming about a double wedding. He was convinced that his father would agree once he saw how important it was to his happiness. And, after what had happened between them, the lady of his heart would gladly have him.

The tall caballero rode into town early the following day, eager to have a private and long-overdue conversation with his fiancée, since the previous evening had not been conductive to one.

He found her in her kitchen, preparing breakfast. The door was wide open to let the morning cool air in, and the first thing he noticed was that she was singing. He smiled before knocking on the door to announce his presence. She startled, turning towards him, then smiled and hurried into his arms to give him a kiss.

"Good morning, my love!" He greeted after their lips parted. "Are you making breakfast?"

"Good morning, my little fox!" She whispered.

"I'm not that little…" He remarked with a wicked grin. "What are you cooking?"

"Huevos rancheros for my distinguished guests." She answered. The way he uttered the words made him think she had no regard for either of them.

"Upset with both, I see. Strange that they already know each other…" He pointed out as he entered the kitchen.

"They do? As in, they had met before coming to Los Angeles?" Victoria asked while returning to her worktable.

"Yes." Diego said pensively. "They have private jokes, and it seemed to me that Mya was flirting with Senor Duncan. What do you make of him? I didn't exactly have the time to ask you much about what happened yesterday…"

"Nothing happened." She hastily replied. "He annoyed me since he first entered the tavern, I put extra chilies in his food as revenge, then he apologized and asked me to keep him company during lunch and… I did. But I had no idea we would let alcohol go to our brains. I am not exactly proud of that. We just talked, though. I mostly talked about you, and he told me all these amazing stories about his travels. I think he has seen more places than even you, Diego. And then we heard a knocking on the door, so he said we should hide so that we wouldn't be disturbed. And, as a fool, I followed him to his room."

"I see…"

"No, you don't! True… he did try to kiss me, but I wouldn't let him. I think I injured him when I pushed him away, and we somehow ended up sleeping peacefully, me on the bed and him on the floor." She ended the story, rather nervous at Diego's reaction.

Diego nodded.

"You do believe me, don't you?" She asked, looking worriedly towards him.

"Of course, I believe you!" He assured her with a smile. "I know you wouldn't lie about something like this, and it's not like I've been forthcoming either."

"No, you haven't! But… I thought about it, and I know you have had your reasons." She acknowledged, yet his words made her suspicious. "However… I was also wondering what happened between you and Senora del Rioblanco." Victoria looked at him intently.

"I'm not sure I should tell you!" He replied seriously.

"Oh, you're going to tell me, alright! I don't want any more secrets between us, Diego!"

"Fine. I'll tell you. But not here. We might easily be overheard. Can you step outside for ten minutes?"

"I guess so… My boarders haven't wakened up yet, and the bread still needs twenty minutes to bake. I believe I can afford a small break. But you will leave nothing out!" She decided.

"Full disclosure." He agreed.

Victoria took the hand Diego offered her, and followed him outside, a little distance away from the back of the tavern.

"I guess I should start by explaining that it was all my fault, but I did't do it on purpose." Diego told her. "Since she came and announced she was after Zorro, I have been trying to change her mind. It was the main reason why I spent so much time with her here."

"Yes. Like you didn't enjoy it at all!" Victoria stated a little infuriated.

"I did. I have to admit I have never met anyone with such an extensive knowledge of history, medicine and customs as Mya. But that was the only reason. I was never interested in her as a woman. You are the only one for me, Victoria, I need you to be certain of that! I wake up every day thinking about you and, at night, I go to sleep imagining our future together."

"Fine words, Senor!" She replied. "You certainly know how to flatter a woman. But I seem to notice you have yet to tell me anything about what happened on your ride yesterday!"

Diego took a deep breath of air. "When I agreed to take her to the Indian village, I did so because I thought she had discovered the truth about me. I was expecting her to challenge me. Instead, after riding for about two hours, when we took a break she tried… she offered herself to me."

"Offered herself?"

"I don't really know how to say this… A caballero shouldn't. But I know I promised… Victoria, she… invited me to make love to her."

"She what?" The taverness instantly became red and Diego was wondering if it was her modesty or her anger to have caused the change of color on her face. Whatever the case, he was suddenly very nervous.

"I told her I wasn't interested, but she did this move and made me fall on my back, then opened my shirt. I think that's when she ripped some of the buttons… or that was a bit earlier… but I whistled and Esperanza reared and kicked her in the head. Which, in turn, caused her to lose consciousness. I'm not proud of that… I covered her…"

"Covered her What so you mean? Why did you have to cover her, it wasn't cold yesterday!"

"No.. But she was naked…"

Victoria's ears were actually fuming or, at least, that how they seemed to Diego. "I didn't even look… It'whay I covered her… and she undressed herself, I had nothing to do with that! Anyway… I tried to wake her up but, when she didn't, I decided to come get you and Doctor Hernandez to help me with her, you with the dressing her part and him with her wound."

"It was you who knocked?" Victoria asked as she calmed down a little.

"I think so. I knocked and you didn't answer, so I went for the doctor. He told me he knows my secret, by the way. He has known for years… since I fell down the Canyon Perdido."

"You what?" Her anger turned to worry, then back. "Never mind now! You are alive and that's all that matters. So that… that… I knew it! I knew she was going to try to seduce you, but I never imagined she would do such a thing! Wait! You just left her there, naked and all alone?"

"No. Felipe had followed us. He was worried about me and… apparently, more than a little taken with the senora. I had him guard her… which, retrospectively, might have been a colossal mistake."

"Why was it a mistake?"

Diego didn't answer.

"He's going to be my son as well, so just tell me!"

"I haven't talked to him yet but, as far as I was able to figure out, while I did resist her, he didn't."

"Dios! You mean…"

"I told her he'd propose, but she wouldn't hear about it. All she wants is to capture Zorro then be on her way, and my son doesn't fit into that plan."

"Well… Her plan doesn't fit into my wedding plan!" Victoria informed him. "I will have her leave my tavern, and I don't want to hear that you or your father… or Felipe, for that matter, decided to have her stay at the hacienda. That will teach her to mess with my men!"

"Your men?"

"Yes! You have always been my family. Now that we are to get married, even more so! And there is nothing I wouldn't do to protect the ones I love."

He smiled and kissed her on the forehead. "Am I forgiven then?"

"For yesterday? Yes. But not for having made me think that you didn't love me anymore!"

He nodded grinning at her, then became serious. "I don't think you should ask Mya to leave." He said. "Don't get me wrong. Right now, I want her gone at least as much as you do. But, while she is here, we can keep an eye on her."

She thought about it and finally agreed.

ZHZHZHZHZHZHZ

Duncan was preparing to leave the morning after his arrival, deciding he had caused enough trouble in the small colonial outpost. Two men, however, caused him to change that decision.

The first one was a deaf-mute who came to the tavern searching for the one he knew as Myrina but who was Mya or Senora Del Rioblanco for everyone else. Having had his share of encounters with pre-immortals, and knowing full well how the beautiful woman related to men, that was his first hint that, just perhaps, he could do some good if he remained a while longer.

He was, however, only convinced when Murad Osman arrived to the pueblo, within an hour after the young man and Myrina had left the tavern together.

Murad had no love for Duncan and the latter had none for the Ottoman. They had met in Hüdavendigar, a former capital of the Ottoman Empire just a few months before Duncan had first met Myrina, and he despised the man with all his heart. He was an Immortal, born about one hundred and thirty years before Duncan. Having first died while running away from a battle, and considering his skills with weapons were rather poor, Murad had lived his life looking for pre-immortals, then causing their death and beheading them in order to take their power before they were able to fight back.

"Long time, MacLeod!" The man greeted with a fake smile as he tied his stallion to the post in front of the tavern.

"Not long enough! What are you doing here, Murad?" Duncan inquired.

"I'm afraid that is my own business." The man answered. "And unless you intend to challenge me, I'd suggest you stay out of my way."

"No. I won't challenge you. Yet." He said as he watched him enter the tavern.

Murad, whom Victoria already knew as Mateo Luna, having spent a night in the pueblo a month earlier, requested a room, then found a corner table and asked for lunch to be brought to him.

Duncan hesitated for a few minutes in front of the tavern, telling himself that, whatever the man had come to do, it was not his problem, then obeyed his conscious and asked for his room back and for Victoria's recommendation in finding a job.

The taverness stared at him for a few moments, gave him back the key to the small room in the back, then advised him to ask Don Alejandro whether he needed a new vaquero.

ZHZHZHZHZHZHZ

For Felipe, the following week passed in kind of a daze.

Diego had talked to him about Mya the morning after he had had his conversation with Victoria, and did his best to be as considerate and careful not to harm his son's feelings. The younger man listened to him, then stormed out, mounted his stallion and headed for the tavern.

Willing to respect the promise she had made Diego, Mya asked him to accompany her on a ride outside the pueblo. She wanted to have some time alone with him so that she could explain why they couldn't be together. Instead, however, they ended up making love in a small, abandoned cottage on the De la Vega land. She broke up with him afterwards and Felipe returned to the hacienda where he remained, broken-hearted and crying for the rest of the day, refusing to let anyone in.

The new Immortal in town, however, complicated things. With him around and Duncan's insight into his behavior, Mya decided not to stay away from her young lover, after all. The next time she saw him in town, two days later, together with Diego and Don Alejandro, she smiled at him and told him she had changed her mind and would be honored if he decided to court her. It was all the invitation Felipe needed, and neither one of the men who had brought him up stood any chance to oppose it.

So, as Felipe and Diego started drifting apart, the young don and Mya started growing closer. Their romance advanced quickly and, within days, both of them seemed to have forgotten anything else and only wish for more time together. Mya even surprised herself once imagining a future by the young man's side, then shook off those thoughts and did her best to remember why she was there in the first place.

Murad made no attempt against Felipe. He smiled knowingly as he saw the couple having dinner one day, but showed no interest in him, or Mya for that matter. His behavior, however, did not make her feel any better.

A week into his courtship, Felipe confessed to her that he was able to hear, a secret which surprised Mya almost as much as the incidence with which she started surprising herself considering a future with the young don. That daydream, however, would, on occasion, turn to a nightmare as her worries about Murad's presence in Los Angeles sometimes overcame her.

Thus, a week and a half into their romance, she decided to ignore several rules her world was founded upon and start teaching him how to survive in it even before he would be forced to do so. She begun by insisting for the young man to allow her to teach him how to fight, and was surprised when he proved himself far more able to handle a sword than she had previously thought. Yet she soon realized that his talent was for fencing, not for the sort of sword fighting he might one day need to master.

That was how, for the following two weeks, each night she and Felipe met, made love, then practiced sword fighting. A few days into their training, she also started telling him her life story, presenting it as a 'legend' she had heard when she was living in the Middle East. She thus instructed him, in her own way, about immortality and all he needed to know in order to survive, should he ever become like her.

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The Alcalde's first reaction at being informed that his former schoolmate, Diego de la Vega, was to suddenly wed the taverness who had spent almost a decade pinning for the masked fiend the people of the pueblo called a hero had been to laugh his heart out. The private who had told him could hardly understand his superior officer's outburst but, then, nobody understood the man, really.

After the initial surprise passed, De Soto poured himself a glass of wine and started thinking about the events of the day. A couple glasses later, he started putting together pieces in a whole new way and his initial amusement changed into a strange feeling that there was something he had been missing.

That feeling only grew within him with every passing day as he noticed the true affection shared by the couple. He had not expected to find that the Senorita was, indeed, in love with the caballero. Yet the more he observed them, the more convinced he was that it was to be, indeed, a marriage based on love and not self-interest on the part of Victoria Escalante, as he had initially though.

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Diego started suspecting his son and Mya were doing more than just courting when Victoria mentioned, casually, that the woman had the strange behavior of going out during the night. Felipe had started locking himself in the room at evening, but, as he grew suspicious, Diego checked it through the window and realized his son was thus covering his nightly rides. It was just a few days before his wedding when, with Felipe avoiding him, the caballero decided to find out if his suspicions were true. He thus donned the mask and headed for the pueblo, determined to follow Mya, whom as he already knew, usually left the tavern at 11:15.

When he arrived in Los Angeles, though, that decision crumbled as soon as he saw smoke coming from the church. Making his way towards the chapel built to serve the pueblo, he realized that the flames had not been noticed by others since the alarm had not been given.

Heading towards the back of the imposing adobe building, he jumped off of Tornado, took off his sash and tied it around the bottom half of his face, then made his way through the dense smoke to the small room occupied by the padre.

He found the good friar unconscious, lying on the floor, and dragged him outside as fast as he could. Once there, he realized the man was not breathing, so he pressed his chest in a rhythmic motion, just as Doctor Hernandez had once taught him, stopping from time to time to breathe air into his lungs. A couple of minutes later the padre started coughing, and, with a sigh of relief Zorro handed him his water flask.

"The other friars!" Padre Benitez muttered as soon as he managed to regain his voice. "Are they safe?"

"What other friars?" Zorro asked him. As far as he knew, nobody else inhabited the building.

"Padres Antonio, Francisco and Santiago. They were all inside when the fire started!"

"Ring the bell, I will need help!" Zorro asked, then left the good padre and hurried inside, chiding himself for not having even considered checking the other rooms.

The doors to the other chambers were locked. Thick smoke was coming from under them and flames were already surging menacingly towards the wooden ceiling. Zorro pushed a few times at the first door and managed to break it just as Padre Benitez reached the bell and gave the alarm. The door broke and fell over the body of the man who had occupied that chamber. It was already a burning mass of flesh and bones, and the black-clad man realized that there was nothing he could do for him at that point. Quickly surpassing his initial shock at the gruesome discovery, he forced the next door open. It cracked and gave in, falling to the side and revealing two men, both of them lying on the floor. The fire had not completely overtaken the room, but the thick smoke made breathing impossible.

Zorro checked the pulse of the two padres. One was already dead, but the other one's heart was still beating. Padre Francisco was a big man, though, and he found it hard to carry him out. His first attempt to lift him failed and the friar tumbled to the floor taking his rescuer with him, the fall causing him to regain his consciousness.

"The chronicles!" The man murmured when the masked man tried to lift him again, indicating through the smoke towards a barely-visible bed. "Under the mattress!"

"We need to leave!" Zorro answered and tried to lift him again. The man resisted, lunging for the mattress and falling next to it, coughing.

Realizing the monk felt that whatever was hidden in his room was more important than even his life, Zorro hurriedly lifted the mattress to find a small notebook.

"Antonio's as well!" The man murmured.

Almost unable to breath anymore and in a hurry, as the flames were now burning down the room's ceiling, making the entire chamber feel like an oven, Zorro did the same with the other mattress and recovered a similar notebook, both of which, in order for him to be able to help the man, he placed at his back, secured in his belt. When that was done, he used his diminishing forces to again lift the friar. Right at that moment, a wooden beam collapsed in front of the entrance, blocking their exit. Realizing they would not be able to pass through, the black-clad man looked around for another way out but found none. They were trapped and would soon die, either burned or from the smoke.

Right as that thought penetrated him mind, the burning wooden beam was lifted and he was grateful to see his father's new vaquero risking some serious burns as he lifted it with his bare hands and moved it away, creating enough room for the two of them to carry the monk outside.

By the time they exited, the plaza was buzzing with people, lancers and simple citizens hurrying to find buckets to use in order to extinguish the fire.

"I'll go find the doctor!" Duncan told him as they placed the man on the ground and hurried away.

"He's a good one… Duncan…" The monk uttered, surprising Zorro.

With his last forces, the friar took the pendant he was keeping hidden under his robe and gave it to the man who had rescued him.

"Benitez says… you are a man of honor. People wearing pendants such as this will come to inquire about us," he told him, as he placed his most precious possession into Zorro's gloved hand. "Give them the chronicles!"

The man took a deep, laborious breath. "Promise!" he asked, just as the last spark of life left him.

"I promise." Zorro replied sorrowfully, knowing full well he could no longer be heard.

"Zorro!" A lancer shouted, attracting De Soto's attention and pointing towards the masked man who took that as his sign to leave.

Taking the pendant with him, he whistled for Tornado, and steered him towards the hacienda.

The Alcalde hesitated but decided that saving the church was more important than a fruitless pursuit of his masked foe.

Mya exited the tavern just in time to see Zorro leave the pueblo.


	10. Questions and puzzles

By the time Diego exited the sliding panel uniting the cave he considered to be Zorro's lair to the hacienda's library, his father had already been informed about the fire and was looking for him.

"Where have you been, Diego?" The old don asked, not dwelling on the fact that his son smelled like smoke.

"I was just tending to one of my experiments, Father." He lied, looking innocently towards his parent, making every effort not to let him suspect that all he wanted was to jump on his horse and go help extinguish the fire he was not supposed to know had taken over the church. "Is there something wrong?"

"We need to go to town. The church is on fire. I've already sent my men to help but we also must do our part!" Don Alejandro commanded.

"The church? Oh no! Of course, we should help. I'm right behind you." Diego agreed, and the old don was only too happy that his uninvolved son finally decided to lend a hand.

On the ride to the pueblo, his father asked if he knew where Felipe was, but Diego answered that he might already be in Los Angeles, and was surprised to find out that he was right. His son was already helping extinguish the blaze as they entered the pueblo, a bucket in one hand and a wet blanket in the other.

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As the morning came, all that reminded of the last night's conflagration were the black traces it had left on the formerly-white adobe building, and the three dead bodies due to be buried that same day. The people, many of whom had fought the flames until the early morning, were exhausted, sitting or lying down on the tavern's porch and in the taproom. Two of the lancers and one vaquero had been injured, but their wounds were, fortunately, minor. The De la Vegas were sitting at one of the tables on the porch, Victoria leaning on her future husband's shoulder, barely able to keep her eyes open.

"Do you think we can still get married on Sunday?" She asked worriedly.

"Yes. We can use the hacienda's small chapel instead of the church. Not many will fit inside, but I have no intention of postponing our wedding." He replied, pained with the memory of the people he couldn't save, and wondering what in the notebooks was important enough for a man to care about even more than he cared about his own life.

A few minutes later, Diego realized that the taverness had fallen asleep. Turning towards her, he slowly lifted her in his arms and carried her to her bedroom.

"Perhaps it's time we returned to the hacienda and get some sleep ourselves." Don Alejandro suggested when he returned.

"You and Felipe should go. I will stay here to keep an eye on the tavern. I'll come home after Victoria wakes up." Diego replied thinking he might take the chance to investigate the cause of the fire.

His father agreed and, placing a hand on his grandson's shoulder, led him to their mounts.

Diego made himself some coffee, drank it while observing the plaza, then, as everyone inside had meanwhile left for their homes, bolted the tavern's doors and exited through the kitchen, heading for the church

Once there, he looked around to make sure he wasn't being watched. The pueblo seemed deserted. He entered the blackened corridor at the back of the building, where the fire had started. Looking round in the hope to identify the source of the deflagration, he studied the walls both with his eyes as well as with his memories, going over what he remembered seeing the previous evening. It was then when he remembered that only the chamber occupied by the man he found out was Friar Santiago was completely in flames at the time he had reached it. Studying the marks left on the walls, he soon realized it had been that very room where the fire had started, so he returned to it, doing his best to stop seeing the burning body, over and over again, in his mind. Searching the ground, where the monk had died, he found something unexpected: a pendant. It was half-melted but it looked a lot like the one given to him by Padre Francisco.

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The morning after the fire which had threatened to destroy the church, unable to sleep, De Soto stripped and washed with a wet cloth, then put on a fresh pair of pants, a white shirt, and a vest. Taking a lamp with him, he headed towards his office, not yet sure what he expected to find there.

Once there, he poured himself a glass of wine and glanced through his window. After taking in the image of the smocking adobe building dominating the plaza, his eyes eventually rested on Victoria and Diego. Intrigued, he remained watching as the caballero parted with his family and closed the tavern and was about to go to his desk when he noticed him heading for the back of the church after first checking out his surroundings As if he doesn't want anyone to see him… he noted. A similar precaution he observed Diego to take at his return, just as he noticed that he was hiding something in his hand.

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Besides investigating and guarding the tavern for Victoria, Diego had spent part of the morning discussing with the doctor about the dead bodies. The medicine man had reached the same conclusion as he did about the source of the fire and informed him that a small rounded dagger had been found with the body of Padre Santiago. Just as he was about to leave the doctor's office, Diego also noticed a third medallion which appeared to have fallen next to the entrance as the bodies had been carried inside. He retrieved it and left without mentioning it to anyone.

It was already midday when the caballero finally arrived at the hacienda. Exhausted, he headed towards his bedroom, fell asleep with all his clothes on, and only woke up at sunset, when his father came by to ask if he wanted to go have dinner at the tavern. He stretched his aching body and, ten minutes later, met Don Alejandro in the hallway, ready to return to the pueblo.

Diego kissed Victoria's hand at entering the taproom and the three of them occupied a table right next to the one shared by Mya and Felipe, not wanting to intrude on their half-talked-half-signaled conversation.

They spent an hour treating Mendoza to dinner while the good man was recounting the events of the previous evening.

"So Padre Benitez doesn't know how the fire started?" Diego asked the Sergeant after he had finished his story.

"No, Don Diego. He says he was already asleep when he felt the smoke, and only woke up because he was suffocating, but collapsed on the floor when he tried to get out. If it wasn't for Zorro, he might have died!"

"Too bad he couldn't save the other three friars, as well." Don Alejandro noted.

"Si, Don Alejandro. But I think they were dead anyway, by the time he arrived. He did take one of them outside, but the man was dead when we got to him."

"Right. How is Senor Duncan doing, do you know?"

"Senor Duncan?" Mendoza questioned.

"Yes. He did help Zorro carry the man outside, and sustained injuries, didn't he? At least that's what I hear." Diego asked innocently.

"I don't know about that," Mendoza answered. "But Senor Duncan helped us put out the fire and didn't seem injured to me."

"Perhaps I'm mistaken. I must have heard it wrong" Diego hurriedly said, trying to cover up his slip of the tongue, and hoping his friend wouldn't notice. He didn't. "What do you know about the padres who died?" Diego inquired, hoping any information on them might give him a clue as to what had really happened.

"All I know is that Padre Antonio arrived about a month and a half ago, then padre Francisco came the same day you and Senorita Victoria got engaged. Padre Benitez especially remembered that day because it was also the day he released that injured white dove you helped him care for. Padre Santiago apparently arrived the following day."

Diego remained pensive and paid little attention to the rest of the conversation his father was having with the military man. After Don Alejandro joined some of his friends at another table, and Mendoza returned to the garrison, he remained waiting for Victoria. She had tried to join him twice but had been called to serve some of the other patrons, giving him enough time to consider the information he had received.

"I'm back!" The taverness uttered as she sat in front of him, and he took his hand to kiss it lovingly.

"Victoria, do you remember when did Senor Luna arrive?" He asked.

His fiancée was surprised by his question but replied anyway. "If I remember correctly, he arrived the day after Senor Duncan got here. Why do you ask?"

"I wonder if he had anything to do with the fire." He told her.

Later that night, while everyone was sleeping, Zorro made his way towards the room occupied by Murad. Silently like a cat, he entered through the window and, as a first measure, he placed an ether-soaked cloth on the man's face, thus making sure he'd stay asleep. Then he thoroughly checked the room.

After twenty minutes of searching, he had found an almost-empty bottle of the same substance he had used to ensure the man wouldn't wake up, several daggers similar in shape to the one the doctor had found under the cremated body of Padre Santiago, and an Ottoman karabela saber, all of which he left where he had found them.

Just as he was about to leave, he realized that he had found the tools used in the fire, but not a clue about the reason behind it. Reasoning that, perhaps, a third notebook might have been involved, considering that Padre Santiago did have one of the strange medallions, he decided he also needed to check under the mattress. Wondering how to do it without waking up the man still sleeping just inches away from him, he carefully moved him to the floor in order to check properly. He held his breath as the man stirred, but released it when he didn't wake.

Finally, Zorro found what he was looking for: a notebook just like the other two he had left in the cave. At first, he wanted to leave it there to be found by the lancers but realized that, since the other two monks kept their a secret, it was highly probable that not even Padre Benitez would have been able to point at it as belonging to the dead men. So, he took it, lifted Murad back in his bed and retrieved the ether-soaked cloth from his face, then left through the window and made his way to the cave.

Once there, he added the new notebook and pendant to the drawer where he kept the other three, and, hesitantly, opened them.

One of the two he had taken from the church was marked 'Chronicle of Myrina of the Amazons'. The other bore the name of his father's new vaquero, 'Chronicle of Duncan Macleod, of the Clan Macleod.' Finally, the newest one was marked 'Chronicle of Murad Osman'. Under each title, a number was inscribed in Roman numerals. In Duncan's case, it was XII*, while in the case of Myrina, the number was CIII*. Lastly, under the name of Murad, were the letters XXI*.

He didn't ponder much on the numbers, not trying to understand their significance there. Wondering why anyone would kill to steal a notebook, however, he started reading the one he had just recovered.

The chronicle detailed the places and the battles fought by the man mentioned on the first page, as well as the names he had assumed during the years covered. That particular chronicle had been started fifteen years earlier and, to Diego, it looked very much like a diary summarizing various events. However, they seemed to be recorded by a person witnessing them, rather than by the man in question. The most disturbing parts were the references to a series of beheadings, each committed just before the man had left a place and changed his name again. The last name the chronicle mentioned was that of Senor Luna, and Diego realized the reason why he had killed to steal it since the padre had either witnessed his crimes or had knowledge of them.

Intrigued, he started reading the one on Duncan and, finally the one inscribed Myrina, at the end of which he found out that the current name of the person referred to was Mya del Rioblanco.

Puzzled and disturbed by the information he found in them, Diego placed the notebooks into a secret compartment of his desk and, realizing it was almost morning already, he made his way towards his room and tried to catch some sleep.

A few hours later, he woke up with Mya's words "I reality, I'm ancient" running through his head. Is that even remotely possible? He wondered as he took a few minutes to stare pensively at the ceiling. The chronicle detailing the last 21 years of her life referred, from the beginning, to a woman, never a baby or a child. But if she was 23, as she was telling people, then twenty years earlier she had to be a toddler. Then there was the title. He had read about a queen of the Amazons who had once led an army of tens of thousands, conquering everything in their path, until she was finally defeated on the battlefield. Her name was Myrina. But how could a warrior queen who had lived over two millennia earlier be the same person he knew as Mya? That was utterly impossible, Diego decided.

Considering that everything was becoming too strange for him to truly comprehend at that point, he refocused on the need to expose the man he was certain to have caused the fire which led to three people being killed. Uncharacteristically, he decided on a direct approach.

Diego found Felipe in the cave, tending to the ongoing experiments, and wondered if he should tell him about the notebooks. He decided against doing it at that time, since he, himself was unable to understand them yet. Instead, asked his son to wait for him because they needed to have a conversation later. The younger man agreed, although no promise was needed since he knew that his father might return injured, and had every intention to remain there until he'd be safely back, anyway.

Zorro rode into the pueblo, climbed the garrison's roof, and silently made his way towards De Soto's office.

"Taking your siesta already, Alcalde?" He asked bemused by the man sleeping behind a pile of papers, in his office chair.

"Zorro!" De Soto exclaimed at seeing him, then made it his point to, for once, actually pay attention to the man he considered his nemesis.

"I'm not here to fight." He announced. "I am here to inform you there's an arsonist and a murderer in the pueblo."

"Are you assuming responsibility for the fire?" The official inquired.

"You know me better than to believe that, Alcalde!" Zorro replied. "But I doubt you know Senor Luna just as well. I'd recommend you search his room at the tavern."

"Really? And what am I looking for?"

"Ether. It's very flammable, but leaves certain marks, should one know what to look for. It's what was used to start the deflagration. You are also looking for small daggers, like the one Doctor Hernandez found, half-melted, into the body of Padre Santiago."

"And how do you know what the good doctor found?" De Soto inquired.

"I have my sources, as you must already know."

The Alcalde nodded. "Well. Thank you, Zorro, for the information. I will take it into consideration," he promised. "Now, I don't suppose I could tempt you to stay a little longer. Perhaps take a seat in one of my jail cells?"

The masked man chuckled. "Don't be greedy, Alcalde!" He asked, and hurriedly made his way outside where he whistled for Tornado.

De Soto watched him leave without trying to have his men follow the outlaw. After taking a few moments to think, he called for Sergeant Mendoza and asked him to take his lancers and check Senor Luna's room. The man had seemed suspicious to him since he had first arrived, spending, as far as his own men told him, most of his time asking people about the Alcalde and about how Zorro had opposed him during the years. He had even been tempted to arrest him, but couldn't find a valid reason to do so without provoking the masked fiend. Now that very fiend had given him one, and he had every reason to act based on his advice.

Half an hour later, the Ottoman was in a jail cell, his sword, daggers, and the almost-empty bottle of ether in the Alcalde's office, and the scaffold already being built for the man to hang after a summary trial due to take place the following day.

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Mya exited the tavern, just like many others, when they heard Zorro whistle for Tornado. She looked again watched him leave and hurried back to her room. After arming herself, she mounted the mare she had bought a few weeks later from a friend of Don Alejandro's, and led her horse in the direction in which Zorro had disappeared, no one but Duncan even realizing she was gone.

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*XII = 12

*CIII= 103

*XXI = 21


	11. Death and answers

Felipe was waiting for his father, just as he had promised, and was relieved to see him uninjured, especially considering he had dreamt the previous night that Zorro would be shot, and he was desperately worried. Diego took off his hat and his gloves, then started untying his mask as soon as he arrived.

"De Soto didn't even call the lancers." He recounted as he revealed his face. "Thank you for waiting for me, Felipe… We are overdue for a conversation. I've been meaning to talk to you about Mya." He said. "I know you are meeting her in secret at night so, before you go any further with this relationship, I believe there are a few things about her you might need to know."

His son signaled that he knew already all he needed to know and there was no need for such talk.

"No, I don't think you do. I think she might be lying about who she is, and I don't believe it would be wise for you to continue your courtship."

Felipe knew Diego didn't approve of his relationship with Mya at first, but learning he was still opposed to him marrying the woman he loved was more than he could handle. Suddenly, he became so enraged with his adopted parent when he said expressed his suspicions that he instantly headed towards the spyhole to check the library, so that he could escape the conversation.

Realizing the library was not a safe escape route, since Don Alejandro was reading there, he made his way towards the back of the cave, decided to exit the other way.

Diego realized by Felipe's reaction that he had made a mistake and followed him, but dared not exit the cave dressed as Zorro without his mask. Returning, he considered changing his clothes but opted for putting his mask back on, since it was faster, and exiting the cave still dressed in black.

Felipe was about to turn right between some big boulders, which led to a ravine ending in a meadow behind the hacienda, when he saw Mya pointing a gun at something behind him. He instinctively turned to see what that was and gasped as he realized that the gun was pointed at his father. Looking back at her, he saw her pressing on the trigger, so he lunged towards the man who had raised him.

Seconds later, the black-clad man was holding his dying son in his arms, glancing in consternation between him and the person who had shot him.

Mya suddenly came out from her hiding place, pointing her re-loaded pistol at him.

"You? Why?" Was all the grief-struck Zorro could ask.

"Step away from him, Outlaw!" She commanded, getting closer.

Felipe looked at her and he tried to mutter something, but no sound left his throat. Glancing at his father once more, he gave his last breath.

Trembling, tears pouring from his eyes, Zorro carefully arranged his son's body on the ground and stood up, looking at Mya with a mixture of disgust and rage nobody had ever before seen on his face.

She neared him, indicating that he should distance himself from Felipe. He took a step back, slowly reaching for the whip still attached to his belt.

Betraying neither remorse nor pain about her lover's passing, she lowered herself to check his pulse. At that moment, as she was distracted, Zorro, who disarmed her with one quick thrash of his whip. She raised to her feet as he drew his sword and met his challenge by drawing hers.

"You will pay for this, Senora!" He uttered in an icy voice as he saluted and attacked, for the first time in his life completely ignoring both the fact that she was a woman and his decision to never take another's life.

She was an able contender despite his skills, and her fighting style was different from anything he had seen before. He remained calm and composed as he attacked viciously. They were a match, however, his skills just as good as hers and vice-versa, so the duel took them to the meadow and back, only luck and the siesta making so that they were not heard and nobody hurried to see what was happening. Determined to put an end to it, Mya guided him back towards the boulders and thrusted viciously. Realizing the stakes, Zorro left his left side open as she trusted once more, sacrificing himself as her move impaled her in his sword just moments before she thrusted hers through his heart.

He expected to die soon, preparing himself to feel the taste of blood in his mouth and see the sky for the last time as he did the one thing he had promised himself never to do: kill another. When death did not come, nor the pain of the sword entering through his chest and exiting through his back, he realized he had just been saved, at the last moment, by Duncan, who had deflected her attack.

"This does not concern you, MacLeod!" She shouted at him, her right hand pressing on her bleeding wound, her right reaching down for her sword.

"Yes, it does!" He replied. Zorro noticed with stupor that his hands, which he was certain to have been badly injured in the fire, looked perfectly fine and had no one scar or wound on them. "You need to stop this before doing something you'll regret!"

"Step out of the way, Senor Duncan!" Zorro asked as he realized he had not caused Mya a mortal wound, as he had first thought. "She killed Felipe, and she will pay for it!"

"She did what?" Duncan asked. "I thought you said you wanted him to grow old!" He addressed Mya.

"I did. It was him I was trying to shoot!" She pointed at Zorro. "He was following Felipe. God knows why he jumped in front of the bullet!"

"He did it to protect his father!" Duncan pointed out. The black-clad man looked confusedly towards him, and Mya gasped at looking towards the man she had been fighting.

"Diego?" She asked dumbfounded, as she retreated. "But… Zorro is supposed to be a dangerous outlaw!"

"Perhaps you should have paid more attention." Duncan pointed out. "The people of Los Angeles consider him a hero. He's saved most of them one way or another. If you try to harm him, you'll have to fight me first!"

"I can take care of myself, Senor!" Zorro pointed out, heading towards Mya. "You killed my son, and I will make sure you hang for this, even if I hang right next to you!" He proceeded to tell her.

Realizing she wasn't inclined to fight him anymore, he headed for his son, intended on picking him up and take him back to the hacienda, not even carrying that two other people had found out his secret.

As he reached to lift him, Felipe took a deep breath and suddenly opened his eyes. The two men stared at each-other open-mouthed as Mya and Duncan headed towards them.

"There's an explanation for this," Duncan uttered as Zorro was checking Felipe's wound, realizing it had disappeared, the blood on his shirt and back only remaining indicator he had been shot.

He swallowed hard, then glanced between his son and the other two people who had witnessed his resurrection. He noticed then that Mya had stopped holding her wound, and realizing she was no longer bleeding. At that moment all he had read in the notebooks flooded his mind as he came to the impossible conclusion which was also the only one to make sense.

"He's an Immortal." He stated as he looked at his son, confusing everyone. "Just like the two of you."

"What makes you think we are Immortals?" Duncan questioned hesitantly.

Zorro took his time answering as he was still doing his best to come to terms with his newly-found knowledge.

Felipe stared at him wide-eyed and clearly terrified.

"I know that you are Duncan MacLeod of the Clan Macleod, and I'm guessing you are about two hundred years old. And you are Myrina of the Amazons, which makes you over two thousand years old. Ancient, as you said yourself. Senor Luna is also one of you, isn't he? Murad Osman by his true name." The black-clad man eventually answered.

"How can you possibly know all that?" Mya wondered.

"You'll find I prefer to keep my secrets, Your Majesty!" Zorro answered.

"I can take care of him from now on. You can say he left…" Duncan suggested.

"Say he left?"

"Considering what just happened, I assume you no longer want him around. I can help him…"

"No longer want him? What are you talking about? He's my son!"

"But… he just came back to life."

"Thank God!" Zorro stated, looking lovingly towards the younger man.

Mya and Duncan stared at each other.

"You're not going to kick him out?" Mya asked.

"Of course, not! Why would I do that?"

"That's what most parents do, from my experience."

"My father claimed I was a demon when I first came back. Chased me out of my village." Duncan told him.

"Forgive me, Senor, but your father was undeserving to be one, in that case!" Zorro simply stated. "You saved my life, Felipe, and I am grateful for that. But you shouldn't have done it. I never wanted you to sacrifice yourself to save me!"

*I've always been willing to die for you, Father!* His son signaled, just before the older man embraced him, holding him tight to his chest.

"Since you're like him, I'd appreciate you telling us everything. The whole truth!" Zorro demanded of the two Immortals a few minutes later, as he finally let go of the younger man. "Should you help Felipe and myself understand better his… condition, I might consider telling you how and what I know about the two of you."

ZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZ

After arresting Senor Luna, De Soto asked Doctor Hernandez about the knife and his discoveries at studying the bodies, the doctor innocently disclosing that Diego had also investigated the case – "for The Guardian," he added -, explaining that the don was the one who had recognized the metal piece he had found under the carbonized body to be an ottoman dagger.

That was when the most outrageous idea started taking shape in the Alcalde's mind.

Returning to his office, De Soto proceeded to confront both the accounts of the mischievous deeds performed by Zorro during the years, and his other registers, noticing with increasing amazement a strange pattern which only served to cement the conclusion his mind still struggled to accept.

The entire night he remained there, deep in thought, ignoring the dinner Mendoza had brought and left for him on the table, and not even noticing when the morning came.

He was startled out of his thoughts when Mendoza came again, this time to bring him his breakfast and retrieve the tray with the previous evening's intact meal in it.

"Sergeant," De Soto asked pensively, not returning his man's salute, but accepting the cup of coffee he had brought him "tell me… Do you remember a certain Englishman called Sir Edmund Kendall?"

He had found a reference to the man in one of the registers regarding the travelers tax, as well as a report informing of his death.

"Si, Alcalde. I remember he was a good friend of Don Alejandro. But he had a price on his head. A bounty hunter followed him from Spain, and the former Alcalde, Luis Ramon, set a trap for him and he was shot. Don Diego took him to the church and claimed sanctuary. Zorro brought Doctor Hernandez to help him, but it was too late… Don Diego was very upset about his death."

"I see. So Diego also knew Sir Kendall?"

"Si, Alcalde. He had been his professor at the university. Sir Kendall said Don Diego had been his best student."

"Kendall's best student? Are you sure?"

"Si… That's what he said. Was he also one of your professors?"

"No, Sergeant. He only accepted ten new students per year. I didn't make the cut." De Soto answered in a clear state of controlled rage.

"What subject…"

"You are dismissed, Sergeant!" De Soto informed his man and Mendoza hurriedly left the office. "You are quite the actor, Senor!" The Alcalde uttered just for himself after he left. "I should have remembered that sooner. But I will have the last laugh after all!"

De Soto stood up and returned to his room where he proceeded in putting on his last good military tunic, then primed his pistol and sharpened his sword. He finally had his answer. He finally knew the face and the name of his nemesis.

Cursing Mendoza for never having mentioned Sir Kendall's claims about Diego de la Vega, he eventually excused his man's ignorance, realizing he was unaware that Sir Edmund Kendall had been the best swordsman in Europe; for decades undefeated in competition.

Ignacio also admitted it was all his fault, really. That he should have recognized Zorro's swords since he had faced it before, when he had tried to prove himself worthy to be trained by the Englishman.

He should have remembered a great many things, he realized.

Like how good an actor Diego had proven himself to be when they had first met at the University of Madrid, and acted together in a Passion play.

Then there were those devices the fiend had used against him and his men. Diego had been the best chemist in university. Even if he was a senior and De la Vega just a freshman, he had heard his fellow student commenting on the Californian's propensity to correct their chemistry professor and prove to be right every time.

He had not given those issues much importance then, just as he had not even cared to find out why the young don always carried a sword while in the Spanish capital, which was a much less dangerous place than Los Angeles, yet never wore one in public since his return to California.

Assumptions. Those had been his main mistakes. Making assumptions about the caballero. Accepting the façade he presented to the others, unwilling to dwell too much on the change in his character he himself had noticed upon arriving in that God-forsaken pueblo.

Doing his best to rein on his anger, De Soto properly armed himself, put on his white gloves, and, after a quick look towards the plaza, which was enough to assure him that Diego was at the tavern, he headed towards the cuartel's internal courtyard. Once there, he assembled his men, instructing them to surround Victoria Escalante's establishment and allow for no one to exit it. Hoping to take Diego by surprise, he avoided providing his men with more information.

Fifteen of his lancers were prepared to follow him outside, just as they heard the commotion in the plaza. He ordered for the cuartel's gates to be opened and, as they exited, they found themselves face-to-face with a military contingent, three times larger than the Los Angeles' own garrison, all men mounted, bearing the flag and the uniforms of the Rebel Mexican Army.

Suddenly, arresting his arch-nemesis was no longer De Soto's top priority.

"Are you Alcalde Ignacio de Soto?" The man leading the small army asked.

"Who wants to know and why?" He inquired.

"I am Lieutenant Alfonso Chavez. I'm here to assume command of this pueblo and to place you under arrest." Came the reply.

The lancers pointed their muskets towards the newcomers, ready to defend their leader.

"Put down your weapons and you will be spared." The Mexican lieutenant informed them. "My men have orders to execute all those who raise arms against the authorities of the free Mexican Empire, and you will achieve nothing but sign your death warrant should you decide to protect this man. Put your muskets down and you will be allowed to continue on your positions if you declare your loyalty to the Empire."

"My men are loyal to me!" De Soto informed Chavez. "You, Senor, and your rebel army will be made an example of!"

"You are the rebel, De Soto! This territory now belongs to Mexico. It had belonged to Mexico for months. The Governor has already surrendered Monterey and left for Spain, just like most of the other Alcaldes in the territory. You, however, in light of your criminal behavior, will be facing the gallows. Take him!" He ordered.

The lancers, unwilling to die for a man they didn't even respect, put down their muskets and raised their hands in surrender. A few minutes later, despite his protests, De Soto was locked in one of the cells, Senor Luna, who proved to be an undercover Mexican soldier, was released, and the lancers were informed about their options: swear allegiance to the new Empire or leave on the first ship to Spain. Being all born in the territory now claimed by Mexico, unable to imagine living somewhere else, they all took the oath of allegiance.


	12. Near miss

"This is not justice!" De Soto heard a familiar voice coming from the office which had been his until that very morning. He was pondering on the irony of his situation when a new wave of irony hit him in the form of Diego's words, his tone of voice carrying them to the prison. "You can't just execute the man, and say things have changed! At least give him a fair trial!"

"That is not necessary, Don Diego!" The Lieutenant said, his tone of voice low enough not to carry through to the jail. "My man has already gathered all the proof and testimony needed for me to execute him for his crimes."

"What crimes? Yes, he was misguided in his actions. A little overambitious and thick-headed, but he has never actually done anything that deserves the capital punishment!" The caballero protested. "And what about your own man? You released a murderer and an arsonist!"

"Yes, I have heard all about the accusations being brought against Sergeant Luna and, although I doubt their veracity, I assure you I will make the proper investigation and punish him, should he be proven guilty. That, however, has nothing to do with De Soto's own guilt."

"That guilt, as I already mentioned, doesn't truly exist! He has never executed an innocent."

"Only because there was always someone to prevent his criminal actions."

"Whatever the case, you cannot convict a man for what he intended to do but did not!"

"True, but I can convict him for having threatened, pursued, and try to murder a man who had been declared a hero of the Empire."

"What? Who are you talking about?" Diego asked.

"Zorro. His actions against him are reason enough to hang your former Alcalde. You see, according to one of the first laws passed by the Mexican government, whoever tries to cause harm to those declared national heroes will be executed."

"So… you are telling me that he has attempted to kill Zorro, and that is why you are going to have him hanged? But he didn't know about the law. None of us did!" Diego argued, doing his best to disguise the relief he felt at hearing he had been pardoned.

"That doesn't matter. The law entered into force the day it was published."

"May I speak with him?" Diego asked, a minute later.

"Are you a relative of his?"

"No. Just a former schoolmate."

"I'm afraid not, in that case. Only his family can be granted access."

"But he has no relatives here!" Diego took a deep breath just as the Lieutenant was about to invite him to leave, and made one more try. "For all intents and purposes, I and Sergeant Mendoza are the closest he even has to friends."

The Lieutenant chuckled sarcastically, then looked intently towards the tall caballero.

"Fine. You have thirty minutes!" He said. "You may tell him he is to be executed at noon, tomorrow."

"On a Saturday?"

"Justice cares not for what day of the week it is!" The Lieutenant answered.

ZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZ

"Alcalde!" Diego greeted. "I managed to convince the Lieutenant to allow me to speak to you. I…"

"You must be joking!" De Soto uttered, glancing at Diego. "Oh, you must love this, Diego! Seeing me like this… You'll probably enjoy seeing me hang, as well."

The caballero was taken aback. "Of course, not. Why would you think something like that, Ignacio?"

"Because I would, if I were you. But, then, I would never commit treason! Enough with the acting, Diego! I know the truth. I was on the way to arrest you when these traitors showed up. And I assure you I would have not hesitated in hanging you… Zorro!"

Diego felt a knot in his throat but did his best to hide his reaction.

"Don't be absurd, Ignacio." He replied. "Look, whatever you may think of me, is not relevant to your current predicament." He continued to state as he noticed that his former schoolmate was unconvinced by his denial. "I have a plan to help you…"

"I'd rather trust my life to Mendoza!" De Soto stated with a chuckle. "Go away, Diego! I don't want to spend even one more moment in your presence."

"Don't be stubborn, Ignacio! I can help you, and I will!"

"I don't trust you. Now, do me the small courtesy and GET OUT!"

With one last glance at De Soto and an "If you change your mind, you know where to find me" the tall caballero exited the prison and, through the Alcalde's office, into the midday heat of the plaza.

"Stubborn as a mule!" He uttered as he headed towards the tavern.

ZHZHZHZHZ

Padre Benitez was allowed to visit him in prison and De Soto spent three hours with the man, talking about everything he needed to talk about as he felt the shadow of Death near. During that conversation, De Soto had a revelation, one long overdue.

As noon came the plaza was filled with people. The former Alcalde was shackled as he was escorted towards the gallows. He stopped for a few seconds, telling himself he will show no fear, although he was terrified, then climbed the stairs. As he reached the top, the noose was placed around his neck. It was then when he noticed that Victoria Escalante and Don Alejandro were in front of the tavern, the latter doing his best to protest against his sentence and realized that, until only the previous day, he would have had no remorse in killing that man's only remaining son. He would have done so without any tangible proof and only based on his instinct as, even if he suspected it, he would have had no chance to demonstrate that Diego was Zorro.

De Soto closed his eyes and, for the first time, saw himself through the eyes of the people he had misguidedly harmed due to his ambition. He also realized that Diego's offer to help might have been genuine and regretted not having accepted it. What he regretted even more, however, was the fact that he had never apologized for all the pain he had inflicted on others.

Not even when he was asked if he had any last words, was he able to bring himself to do it. He had never learned how.

Sepulveda was given the order to press the lever, and people held their breath as the wooden board beneath De Soto's legs gave way and he fell. He touched the ground hard and collapsed on his stomach, unsure of what had just happened.

Zorro rode into town and the crowd parted as the masked man made his way towards the Lieutenant.

"Why did you do that?" Chavez asked, glancing between the knife which cut the rope just as De Soto was about to fall to his death and the masked hero who had thrown it from forty feet away.

"Because you are hanging an innocent man!" Zorro answered.

"He… he's not innocent! He has tried to capture and execute you." The Mexican protested.

"If that had truly been his intention, he would have done so months ago."

"From what I heard about you, he never stood a chance."

"That was so for a long time. But he has also known my identity for months now, and could have arrested and executed me whenever he wanted, if he were so inclined."

"What?" Chavez asked as a general murmur went through the crowd.

"If you want to convict a guilty man, Lieutenant, look towards Sergeant Luna! He's responsible for the deaths of three friars. It was I who provided the former Alcalde with the information which led to his arrest in the first place, just as I had helped De Soto solve other murder cases before this."

Chavez considered his words and ordered Sergeant Luna arrested.

"Whether my man is guilty or not, does not prove De Soto is innocent." He then stated. "You are known to bend the truth when it serves your cause, although, why you would save the man who would have gladly seen you hang is beyond my comprehension. So, unless you can prove your statement, the former Alcalde is still under sentence of death."

"I can prove it." He replied as everyone in the plaza stared at him in disbelief. "Ask him what's my true name, and he will tell you. That, and my word should be proof enough."

"Senor Zorro!" Mendoza asked from the crowd. "To prove Alcalde De Soto's words you would have to unmask."

"And so I will, Sergeant." He replied.

"You will do that to save your enemy?" A man from the crowd asked.

"I will do that to save an innocent man."

De Soto could do little else but stare, dumbfounded, at Zorro.

"It's alright, Ignacio. You know who I am. Tell them!" The masked man asked, finally confirming his suspicions.

The former Alcalde looked around, uncertain of what to do, for the first time since he had arrived in Los Angeles, genuinely worried about the consequences of Zorro's unmasking, both for the man himself and for the people of the pueblo.

"He doesn't know!" The Lieutenant decided.

"He does, but fears for my safety. I believe he wasn't informed about the Mexican Government's decision to grant me a pardon." Cheers were heard from the crowd at his words.

Chavez nodded and decided to give De Soto one more chance. "I can confirm that Senor Zorro is pardoned, and even declared a hero by the Mexican Government. Actions against him are now punishable by death, which is the main reason why I had already decided your punishment when I've arrived to Los Angeles. However, if what he says is true, I owe you an apology. Tell us his name and fear not for his life!"

De Soto swallowed hard, fully aware that all his nemesis had claimed had been his invention. One meant to save him, even though, had he guessed Zorro's identity sooner, he would have not hesitated in carrying out the execution. Yet he did fear death. So he finally did the wise thing and accept the black-gloved helping hand.

"He's Diego de la Vega." He uttered, stirring disbelief and murmurs among the people gathered in the plaza.

"That's absurd!" Don Alejandro was heard saying as the people around him stared at the old don.

The Lieutenant looked inquisitively towards the masked man who took off his hat and untied his mask revealing that the former Alcalde was correct.

"I believe you owe him that apology." He simply stated.

His father's legs gave up under him at that moment, and he had to dismount and head towards his parent.

"Father?"

"Diego? You? You've been Zorro all this time? My own son?"

"I'm afraid so, Father. I'm sorry I never told you before, but it was too dangerous secret to share… even with you."

"Did you know?" Don Alejandro looked towards Victoria and Felipe, neither one of them displaying any surprise at the reveal.

"Felipe has helped me since the beginning, and Victoria found out, by accident, the afternoon when we got engaged." Diego told him. "Speaking of which, the wedding should take place in less than an hour. I think we should all head home."

They left in the cheers of the people gathered, Victoria, Don Alejandro and Felipe by carriage, Diego, Mendoza and De Soto - who had been released and accepted his former nemesis' invitation to the wedding - on horseback.

"Why did you save me?" De Soto ventured to ask as they left the pueblo. "Nothing of what you said was true."

"Perhaps. But sometimes even lies serve the purpose of justice." Diego replied.

"You still haven't answered. Why didn't you let them hang me? I told you I would have hanged you, had I had the chance."

"But you didn't." Diego uttered, then sighed. "I never wanted you dead, Ignacio, when are going to finally understand that? How many times have I risked my life trying to save you?"

"Fine… But why? All I've tried to do was bring you to justice!"

"And all I've tried to do was make you see the error of your ways. I always thought you have much potential, De Soto, but you are misusing it. I guess I still hope you might one day become the man I believe you could be."

ZHZHZHZHZ

The wedding lasted late into the night, and, while De Soto took the chance to get completely drunk and ended up sleeping in one of the rooms used by the vaqueros, since the guestrooms were all occupied, the groom spent most of his time answering Zorro-related questions, the bride danced with every man there, Felipe and Mya only danced with each other, Duncan charmed several young senoritas, and Sergeant Mendoza focused most of his attention on the food, as everyone expected him to do.

The following morning Duncan arrived in the pueblo just as Pilar, Victoria's helper, opened the tavern. He was heading to his room when shouts from the plaza determined him to double back.

"What's going on?" He asked one of the new soldiers as he exited to the terrace.

"Sergeant Luna has escaped." He answered before mounting his horse as the soldiers went in pursuit.


	13. Fallout

Mya and Felipe woke up in each other's arms, safe behind the locked doors of his room.

"I like this." He uttered in a faint voice, startling Mya.

"You… said something?" She asked.

"My voice is coming back. Has been since my death." He told her. "I wanted to tell everyone yesterday, but I just didn't find the right time."

"That is so wonderful, my love!" She said, placing soft kisses on the edge of his lips before capturing his mouth.

"Will you marry me, now, that I'm like you?" He asked as they took a break for air.

"Don't ask me that, Felipe! I already explained that I will never marry again if I can prevent it. Not even you."

"But you love me. And I love you. I don't want to ever be with anyone but you!"

"That's how you feel now. But give it a century or two..."

"And if we'll still love each other then? If we still feel the same in a hundred years?"

"I tell you what. If we still feel the same for each other a hundred… no, let's compromise… Say, a hundred and fifty years from now, I might consider marriage. Do you think you can wait that long?" She teased, completely certain that, even if he thought he did at that point, he'd probably move on in just a few months.

"Yes." He answered. "Although, I'd rather not."

She smiled and realized he was becoming sad. "Would you like to go for a walk?" Mya asked, hoping to cheer him up.

Felipe agreed and they snuck out of the room through the window, in an effort to avoid being found out by the servants who were already roaming the corridors of the hacienda.

They strolled towards the nearby ravine when they stumbled over Diego and Victoria, who had had a similar idea and were lying down, kissing on a blanket underneath a big oak.

"You know," Mya said "I sometimes wish for what they have."

"Don't we have that?"

"No… I mean… mortality. The mere idea that there is only a limited amount of time at your disposal and you must take that time and make the most of it. Laugh, cry, suffer, be happy, love, make children, grow old… We have eternity and many lives, but somehow they are all incomplete. As if whatever you do, there will always be something missing." Mya smiled a bit sadly.

They were about to silently head in a different direction in order to give the newlyweds their privacy, when both of them felt the presence of a third Immortal. They looked around but only noticed him at the last moment.

"Father!" Felipe shouted as loud as he could just as Murad came charging from behind a hill, sword drawn and aiming for Diego.

The caballero pushed Victoria away and rolled to the side as the sword fell right on the place where they had stood seconds earlier.

"Run!" He asked his wife, realizing he was unarmed.

Felipe looked at Mya.

"We need to help him," she said, "but my sword is at the tavern. Go find some weapons and I'll see how I can help him meanwhile."

Felipe hesitated, then ran for the nearby hills, taking Victoria's hand and dragging her with him towards the cave.

Meanwhile, Diego found a fallen, leafless branch and started defending himself with it.

"Where is the notebook, you thief?" Murad asked. "You stole from me! I want it back!"

"It was never…" Diego replied while blocking another trust, "yours, to begin with! You're the one who stole it, and killed its true owner."

"You will pay for what you did!"

As Diego was defending himself, Mya was searching the ground for a better weapon, but was unable to find more than some rocks, which she threw at the Ottoman, with less effect than she had hoped for.

One more thrust of Murad's sword and the branch Diego was using was severed in two useless pieces. The tall caballero threw them at his challenger, and managed to hit him hard on the head, momentarily stopping his attack. At that moment Murad felt another Immortal nearby but paid him no attention, thinking it was Felipe returning. He decided he needed to hurriedly kill the caballero. His first thrusts were avoided by Diego, yet his adversary pushed him towards the nearby tree trunk, giving him no more avenue of escape.

"Say your prayers, Zorro! And after I am finished with you, I'll take what I came here for, in the first place. Your son's head!" He uttered as he was about to pierce Diego's body with his sword.

He launched but, what was about to become a fatal blow was parried by Duncan's katana.

"I hereby challenge you, Murad!" He stated calmly.

"This is none of your business, MacLeod!" The Ottoman warned.

"I believe I just made it my business!"

"Fine! Have it your way…" The man pretended to retreat, then launched at him before his new opponent expected his attack.

Diego pushed Duncan out of the way and Murad's sword injured his arm instead. He held it to his chest, pressing on it as Duncan turned and met the next thrust.

"This is just between us, you need to go!" Duncan told Diego.

"He is right!" Mya confirmed as the two Immortals started fighting in earnest.

Duncan contented himself with parrying the other man's thrusts as they were heading for nearby hills, running into Felipe - who was returning with Zorro's sword - and taking him along as they did so. In their hurry, they did not see Victoria had also followed her husband's adopted son.

As soon as they were at a safe distance the Highlander started attacking and soon managed a deep cut into Murad's abdomen. The man fell on his knees and Diego turned to see Duncan severing his head.

The caballero froze on the spot as he watched, just like Felipe and Mya, the power being released from the Ottoman's body and passing into Duncan's. Then he realized what the term Quickening was referring to as lightning swept through the meadow and through the victor's body and sword causing him what sounded like a very painful yell that made the tall caballero feel a cold shiver down his spine. The tree under which he and Victoria had kissed just minutes earlier was struck by a bolt of lightning and caught fire. Several nearby bushes had a similar fate, as one of the boulders just a few feet away from them was struck to its core, and part of it was blackened.

A few minutes after it was all over, a patrol arrived at the spot, just as the De la Vegas and Mya were returning to their friend and Diego hurriedly took the blanket still on the ground and did his best to put out the fires. The new Mexican Alcalde, Lieutenant Chavez, who was guiding the patrol searching for Sergeant Luna, stopped before the decapitated body of his man.

"What happened here?" He asked at seeing the disaster. The tree and the bushes were no longer burning, but Duncan was still kneeling on the ground next to the body of his adversary, bloodied sword in his hand. "Arrest him!" Chavez ordered his soldier, pointing towards the Highlander.

"No! Wait, Lieutenant!" Diego shouted.

"Are you going to defend a murderer now, Don Diego? Sergeant Luna might have been an escaped prisoner, but his guilt was not yet determined. This man decided to play executioner before he even got a fair trial!"

"Your man attacked me. As you can see, he injured me when I tried to defend myself." Diego said, drawing the Alcalde's attention towards the wound on his arm. I was unarmed and Senor Duncan only did what he could to defend me."

"He is still a murderer."

"Yet you said it yourself: those who attack me condemn themselves to death. So, certainly, those who save me by taking the life of a man already sentenced should at least get a pardon."

Chavez stared at him. "Is that true? Senor Duncan saved Don Diego?" He asked the other two people accompanying the caballero.

"He did!" Victoria told him as she also joined the group, appearing from behind some boulders in the ravine. "Your man attacked me and my husband. Senor Duncan defended him and himself."

"He had no choice. It was him or Sergeant Luna." Mya also told him.

The Lieutenant accepted their testimony but was still disgusted at the scene before him. "One cannot argue with your logic, Don Diego." He conceded. "But I will not have a man willing to decapitate others in this pueblo. Senor Duncan, you are free to go, but you have one hour to leave this place!"

Indicating that his men needed to borrow the De la Vega wagon in order to take the body and the head of his former Sergeant to town, they left about twenty minutes later.

"Will you tell me what on Earth did I just witness?" Victoria asked, turning towards her husband, Felipe and Mya as her legs almost gave out under her.

ZHZHZHZHZ

"So Duncan saved Zorro's life!" Joe concluded.

"Three times." Felipe pointed out.

"What happened then?"

"Duncan had to leave, and Father told Victoria everything. It took her a while to come to terms with the idea that some people, her new son included, were immortal, and wouldn't grow old. But she never treated me differently. She was a great woman, the perfect match for the Fox. They had four children together, five if, as they did, you also include me.

"After a few years, as people started noticing that I wasn't aging, Diego came up with a way for me to hide that reality by using stage makeup, made me grow a full beard and a mustache and taught me how to disguise my voice. It's how I was able to live with them for over two decades. I like to think I helped them navigate some really hard times. You see, Mexicans did not prove any better than the Spanish. As the pueblo grew, criminality increased exponentially and there were more people destitute than before. When my father considered re-becoming Zorro to help the garrison, I convinced him it would be wiser if I did it. He was already in his forties at the time and I, on the other hand, was Immortal… So I took over for a few years, not as Zorro but using some of his tactics, and things got better for a while. Then the Americans took over and tried to confiscate all the land they could get their hands on. My father lost a quarter of his lands to them, yet others lost everything they had. He helped all those he could, but had to sacrifice much of his remaining fortune in the effort to do so.

"When their first-born sons, Alejandro and Alfonso, returned home from their studies, I left and followed my own path. I did, however, make sure to return home every few years and I admit that, after the initial shock of the takeover passed, things did get better… eventually.

"The last time, I went home was when my father died. Victoria outlived him only ten days. I always thought she died of a broken heart. After over forty years of marriage, I guess she just couldn't go on without him.

"As for the others, Sergeant Mendoza took over the management of the tavern after Victoria got pregnant with the twins, and ended up fathering three daughters. His descendants are now running a chain of restaurants in California from what I know.

"De Soto remained at the hacienda a few more days and boarded the first ship to Spain. He and Father remained in correspondence for the rest of their lives and, from what I was able to find out, he did change quite radically. He died while saving a boy who was drowning in the sea, after he retired and returned to his hometown of Cadiz.

"Padre Benitez was forced to return to Spain in the early 1830s, when most of the properties of the Missions were confiscated and re-distributed, but his ship never made it to its destination. We never knew what happened to him…

"Doctor Hernandez retired and left for Monterey, where he died some five years later, just after the birth of his fifth grandchild.

"Lieutenant Chavez only ruled the pueblo for about eight months. He respected Father, but they never really liked each other. In the end he decided to organize free elections and my grandfather became Alcalde for a while."

"How about you and Mya? Or Myrina, to be more precise. What happened to her?"

"She'll always be Mya to me... As my father made her promise, she stuck with me, taught me all she knew, until I was ready to properly defend myself… and several years after that. Despite having started on the wrong foot, she and Victoria eventually became best friends. I guess she liked being part of a family, which is why she stuck around for almost a decade. We told everyone we were married in secret and Father helped us forge the documents attesting to that, but she refused to actually do it. Then, one day, she just left.

"I spent much of my life searching for her and, in the meanwhile, I saw the world. I also found my own calling. Or callings, I should say. I was a sword master, an explorer, a doctor, a veterinarian, a pilot, a scientist… even an astronaut at one point. My father once said that mankind would someday go to the moon, but I don't believe he ever imagined that I would be among the first humans to do so."

"You were on an Apollo mission?"

"No. It was a NASA mission, but not one people know about." Felipe answered.

"Really? Why not?"

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I am still sworn to secrecy, my friend!"

"So… Did you ever find her again? Mya."

"I did. A few times. Each time we were together for five or six years, then she would leave me again. But I am not one to give up easily. Four years ago she finally agreed to marry me, after only one hundred and seventy-two years since we first met."

"Well… I guess true love tends to last."

"Indeed."

"But I don't understand. How did you manage to escape unnoticed for all this time? You and Mya for that matter?"

"Well… Firstly, because, believe it or not, I have only ever taken two heads, and that only because I found no way to avoid it. The men in question gave me no choice. Secondly, because I was never again killed after Mya shot me, so nobody else witnessed me resurrect. Thirdly, because I have infiltrated your ranks several times and made sure to delete any reference to me – although I did only ever find two, both connected to the mentioned beheadings.

"As for Mya, since my father was in possession of the chronicle on her and, after they made peace, he actually started to like her again, he realized that it might be wiser if the Watchers believed her dead. So he inserted an entry in her chronicle mentioning her beheading by Murad."

"Zorro faked our chronicles?"

"My father was a wise man, Joe. It didn't take him long to realize what was going on. That others knew about us - the people who wore the medallions with the symbol you now wear as a tattoo on your wrist - and took notes of our activities. Duncan was gone by then, and I never had the chance to tell him since our next encounters were brief to say the least, but Mya had stayed and was even able to offer Diego some more pieces to the puzzle. By the time the other Watchers came, and my father turned over the chronicles and the medallions to them, we had already made copies of each and had started conducting our own investigation into the Watchers. He pursued that issue even after I left home, convinced that if people knew how to kill us, one day they might decide they should. Fear can easily distort judgement."

"And, unfortunately, it has. You might know about…"

"How Darius died? Yes… I also know he was not the only one to fall prey to mortals' fears."

"So you were also a Watcher?"

"I was. In fact, we have met before, Joe. A few decades back, when you were new to the job. My name back then was Philip Young."

"You? Philip Young? But… Philip was an old man when we've met… I was at his funeral."

"You can do a lot with makeup, I assure you. And… while I never died again after that first time, I know a lot about poisons that make a person look dead, and always had enough friends willing to help me in whatever I needed, without asking too many questions. How else do you think I managed to avoid detection for so long? I did it by pretending to be just like every other mortal."

Joe didn't look convinced, so Felipe added "Remember when you asked me what if, at some point, you will be tempted to get yourself involved? Take sides? I believe I advised you to only do so if you really feel that the one you pledge your loyalty to is truly worthy of it and make sure to remember it is never truly your fight."

"You really are who you say you are, aren't you?" Jos asked, dumbfounded as he recognized the words once told by a man he had considered a mentor.

A few seconds later Felipe felt the presence of another Immortal and Duncan MacLeod walked through the doors.


	14. Legacy

"Felipe?" Duncan asked with undisguised surprise at seeing the younger man at the bar with Joe.

"Duncan! This… young man has been waiting for you. Told me a very interesting story while doing so." Joe replied instead.

"It's good to see you, Duncan!" Felipe offered him his hand.

"Did he tell you he's the son of Zorro?" Duncan asked as he embraced the younger man instead.

"He did. He also told me you saved his father, and that he's been a Watcher on and off for… how long?"

"Just for about forty years in total. Starting in the 1860s. But I never did any field work. Only research."

"He was also one of my mentors, apparently!"

"You've known about the Watchers for a hundred and forty years?" Duncan asked.

"A hundred and seventy-six." Felipe confirmed. "The friar you and Father saved from the fire was one. He gave Diego a pendant and the chronicles on you and Myrina. It's how he knew about you."

"I always wondered about that."

"You left Los Angeles before he trusted you enough to tell you."

"I see. So Methos was not the only one who infiltrated you!" Duncan told Joe with a knowing smile.

"I think I should recommend that all of our people to be screened. If they did it, who knows who else did? You wouldn't be in need of a job, would you, Duncan?" Joe inquired.

"No, thank you. As you know, I'm not very fond of your organization. Perhaps Felipe..."

"I doubt I will be of much help after I do what I came here to do."

"Why not? You're just here to give Duncan that information about Jacob Kell, right?" Joe replied.

Duncan looked towards him a little puzzled.

"I'm afraid that was a lie, Joe. No, I actually came for something else." Felipe confessed. "Duncan, perhaps you'd care to take a walk with me?"

The Highlander looked a little suspicious at the younger man, then conceded.

HZHZHZHZH

"What did he want?" Joe asked Duncan as he returned to the bar, about an hour later.

Methos was also there, sitting at the bar, waiting for him.

"To give me this." He answered, taking out a purple crystal from his pocket.

"An Amethyst?" Methos wondered.

"No… I've actually never seen anything like this." Duncan replied, looking lost in thoughts as he stared at the stone in his hands.

"Why are you looking at it like that?" Joe wondered.

"Yes. What is so special about it?" Methos inquired.

"It's a choice. One I never knew we had. When Felipe gave me this crystal, he actually gave me his power and Myrina's."

"You took their heads?" Methos asked in disbelief.

"No. It's what I'm saying. I didn't have to. All I did was agree to accept this crystal. It was just like any other Quickening, but… it was also different… I took the power of two Immortals at the same time, and nobody had to die!"

"A crystal that transfers the power of the Immortals? Just like that?" Joe wondered.

"Just like that."

"And where is Felipe? What happened to him?"

"I don't know… He wasn't there when it was all over."

The man they were talking about and his wife walked through the door, hand in hand, about an hour later, heading straight for the table Duncan was now sharing with Joe and Methos. Neither of the Immortals sensed their presence.

"Good evening!" Mya greeted. "May we join you?"

They all looked at them inquisitively.

"So what Duncan says is true…" Methos observed. "You are no longer Immortals. You found a way to give up immortality and did it?"

"Yes." She stated.

"But why?" Joe asked.

"Because we want a real life. We want a family, children, a house, a career; to grow old together and die of a broken heart if the other one dies first." Mya answered and Felipe looked lovingly at her. "Because we've seen all we wanted to see and lived all we wanted to live. Besides, I guess we were both feeling too old and wanted to remember how it was like to be young again." She winked at Felipe.

"But how did you even come across this crystal? I've never seen any reference anywhere pointing to its existence." Methos inquired, not daring to touch the stone.

"One of my father's friends, an archeologist, came across an old cave drawing while in Africa, and drew a copy for him. It was when the idea that the power could be transferred without violence first hit him. I have spent much of my life pursuing that discovery, to see if what he believed was, in any way possible. It was also the reason why I first infiltrated the Watchers." Felipe recounted.

"And you found it… Using our chronicles?" Joe questioned.

"No. There was nothing useful in the chronicles. And, trust me, I've read them all. No… We found it solely by chance, and only recently." Felipe replied. "Mya and I were vacationing in Egypt a couple of months ago… It was when we stumbled upon it in a shop. It was embedded into what the owner of a small gift shop was trying to sell as an authentic tribal crown. We both sensed it, as if the crystal was calling us. But it was not an easy decision to make… giving up the prospect of eternal life. Only time will tell if we were right in doing it."

"So… What will you do now?"

"We're going home. To Los Angeles. Neither one of us has been there in over a century, but it is where we first met… So we've decided it's also where we're going to live our lives." Felipe replied.

"And this crystal?" Duncan asked.

"We hardly need it anymore, do we? Perhaps the Watchers might keep it safe. Let others know there is another way." Mya told him.

HZHZHZHZH

"Well?" Joe asked Duncan a few weeks later. "Is it safe?"

"As safe as it can be." Duncan answered.

"I still think you should have let us handle it."

"Joe, we both know your organization hardly has a perfect record in protecting even its best kept secrets. This way, at least, it will not be used against my kind. Rather than nagging me about it, why don't you tell me if you are still determined to write that chronicle on Felipe?"

"There should be one, don't you think? And I intend to correct the one on Myrina, as well. I already asked for the last chronicle on her to be brought here. Perhaps I can insert there a reference on where you've hidden the crystal. Something well codified…"

"No."

"Then how will those who want to use it even know about its existence?"

"The same way Felipe and Mya did. Sheer luck. Trust me, it can be found, but only by those who will truly be looking for it." Duncan assured Joe, remembering he had hidden the crystal in the same cave where the wall drawing that had led Diego to assume its existence was found.

HZHZHZHZH

Felipe was watching the lights of the City of Angels from aboard a big white yacht named 'Legacy of the Fox'. His wife brought him a glass of champagne and joined him.

"It's a beautiful evening." She remarked.

"Nothing is how it was…" He replied.

Felipe had been a little disappointed about how little had survived of the pueblo he had, long before, left behind. A few buildings he remembered, most of them built around the time his father had died, were still standing. The De la Vega hacienda had been completely demolished, to be replaced by a private park serving a nearby mansion. The landscape itself was hardly familiar to him. The hills, valleys, canyons and ravines he had once known as the back of his hand had been replaced by blocks, huge mansions and film studios.

"Neither are we." She replied. "Do you think you can get used to it? To this town, again, as it is now?"

"Perhaps… I'll certainly try. I like it, you know? As it is now. It's a lot like Diego imagined it would be. I'm just sorry he is not still around to see it." Felipe said softly, tears forming in his eyes.

"He is here." Mya said, pointing at his heart. "As long as his memory lives, so does he. And you can always become a writer and tell his story as it truly was."

Felipe smiled and wiped his tears, turning around so that his wife wouldn't notice.

"Are we celebrating something, my love?" He proceeded to ask looking at the glass of champagne.

"Yes, we are. A few things, actually." She answered, looking intently at him. "The first one is that I managed to find us a home."

"You did?"

"Yes. It's a beautiful house. Brand new, finished less than a year ago. And get this: it's called 'The De la Vega Manor'" She said, gesturing the name as if it was a title written in the sky.

"The De la Vega Manor?"

"It comes with a park and a secret cave." She added with a wink. "My lawyer had been in negotiations to buy it for a while now, but the owners wouldn't part with it no matter how much I offered. Today I decided to give it one more try."

"You convinced them to sell it?"

"I didn't need to. All I had to do was tell them our names. You see, the name of the manor is not accidental. The house is owned by your family and, apparently, they always knew about us, and believed we would one day return home. Together.

"So that manor also comes with Diego and Victoria's descendants: a very nice old man who looks a lot like your father did at his age, his two sons - one of which is a 30-years-old doctor and the other a thirty-nine-years-old editor and owner of one of the town's main newspapers -, the oldest son's wife - who is working for her family's business, a chain of restaurants, from what I understand -, and a very nice 18-year-old young lady who is looking forward to find out everything you can tell her about Zorro. It's a package deal, really. They had even designed the south wing as a partly-independent building, just in case we or just you would ever show up."

"That's incredible news, Mya!" Felipe said, taking his wife in his arms and kissing her forehead. "They really want us living with them?"

"They even agreed to sell us part of the house, just so that we'd never feel like guests there. Our names are already on the deed."

Felipe was overwhelmed, unable to stop his tears anymore.

"There's more…" She said.

"More than having a family again?"

"Yes… and no… Adding to that family, I would say. I'm pregnant. We're going to be parents, Felipe!"

"You realize I'm calling our first son Diego, right?" He uttered as he raised his wife in his arms to kiss her, feeling his heart beating so rapidly that, for a moment, he feared it might explode.

Felipe de la Vega finally had the life his father had always wanted for him, and he couldn't be happier about it.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thank you for reading this story. I loved writing it and I hope I did well by all characters. I didn't want to change anything about their original storylines when it comes to the characters of Highlander, so this is just adding to their stories, not modifying anything. If you find mistakes you would like to point out, please feel free to send me a PM and I will do my best to correct them.
> 
> In other words, if you did like it, make me happy and leave a review.


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